"While the formal election might have ended, it leaves a big question mark in terms of the country's democratic history and development," Lien said, while standing before a backdrop that read "Democracy is dead."
Urging Chen to squarely face people who demand to know the truth about the assassination attempt, Lien said the KMT-PFP alliance will not cease its demonstration until their appeals have been addressed.
In rhetoric meant to underscore his support for Lien, Soong said he would give up his candidacy as the alliance's vice presidential candidacy should a re-election be necessary once the whole ordeal comes to an end.
A 5-meter-tall "crying Statue of Liberty" was erected at the venue to kick off the rally at 2pm yesterday before KMT Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Between speeches bashing Chen, delivered by prominent pan-blue figures including New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (
Many protesters wore national flag stickers on their faces and on their outfits, while others held up placards with slogans written in Chinese and English, reading "Fraud" and "Immediate recount."
Under the lead of the rally host, mass protesters waving Republic of China flags and Lien-Soong campaign flags at the rally from time to time called out slogans in English, such as "Justice, now!" and "Truth, now!"
According to the Taipei City Government's information, as of 5pm yesterday the rally had drawn a crowd of approximately 468,000 people.
In view of the events on Friday, in which scores of demonstrators scuffled with police and hurled bricks at the office of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to protest the official announcement of Chen as the winner of the election, police forces were a heavy presence around the Presidential Office, in addition to barbed wire barricades and numerous police vans for added security.
To everyone's relief, the rally, with the exception of an attempt by a handful of demonstrators to remove the barbed wire barricades when the crowd was asked to leave at 6pm, ended peacefully.
But police were tense, as a number of pan-blue legislators, mostly from the PFP, had warned prior to yesterday's event that they would carry out "dramatic action" at the rally. PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) even said he was planning to drive a bulldozer to the rally.
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