After months of hearings and deliberations on one of two pan-blue camp lawsuits, the re-election of President Chen Shui-bian (
"The judges arrived at this decision because the results of the investigation and hearings [with the lawyers] did not prove the allegations leveled by the plaintiffs," Taiwan High Court spokesman Wen Yau-yuan (溫耀源) said.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Presiding Judge Wu Ching-yuan (
Wen said the verdict had rejected the plaintiff's three claims. He said the pan-blue camp had failed to provide adequate evidence for any of the arguments presented to the court.
The first claim was that the ballots had been miscounted, prompting an exhaustive recount of all ballots. Those ballots disputed by lawyers from both camps were then transferred to the judges for appraisal.
Based on this recount, the court announced yesterday that Chen and Lu won the election by 25,563 votes. The original margin was reported as 29,518.
The second claim was that the pan-green camp had attempted to influence or manipulate the result of the presidential election by staging an assassination attempt on March 19, the eve of the election.
Pan-blue lawyers contended that Chen and Lu had staged the assassination attempt, then launched a so-called "national security mechanism" so that the Chen-Lu ticket and the referendum held in tandem with the election would attract more support out of sympathy for the candidates.
Wen said that forensic analysis by Henry Lee, an overseas consultant requested by the pan-blue camp but hired by the government, had concluded that it was impossible for Chen and Lu to have staged the incident. Wen said that the court had taken note of Lee's findings.
During previous hearings, military personnel and heads of police departments had also testified that stricter security measures implemented following the incident did not deprive members of the military or the police forces of the ability to vote, as the pan-blue camp had alleged.
The pan-blue camp finally claimed that the pan-green camp had improperly manipulated voters into supporting Chen. Wen said no evidence had been presented to the court proving that the pan-green camp had done this.
The plaintiffs and defendants are allowed to appeal within 20 days of receiving the verdict from the court.
Defense counsel Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said he hoped that the plaintiff would respect the decision by the court.
"This [the lawsuit] was what they wanted. Now here is the result. I hope that they [the pan-blue camp] can face the facts and respect the legal outcome," Koo said.
Pan-blue lawyer Lee Tsung-teh (
Outside the high court, no more than 200 to 250 pan-blue supporters protested. Nearly 400 police officers from the Taipei City Police Department's Chungcheng First Precinct helped the court's security service maintain public order. No injuries or arrests were reported.
However, a number of pan-blue candidates for next month's legislative elections took advantage of yesterday's verdict to seek more voter support.
The judges also ruled that the pan-blue camp would have to pay expenses for the case, estimated to be more than NT$70 million. But the court said that the exact figure had not been calculated.
The verdict of a second lawsuit, including the allegation that Chen used the referendum to unfairly influence the result of the election, and that the election should have been postponed following the assassination attempt, is pending.
Correspondents with newspapers, TV stations and wire agencies from the US, UK, Japan, France and Russia covered the events as they unfolded.
Also See Stories
Pan-blues urged to accept ruling
Blue camp still defiant after High Court ruling
Taiwan should learn from US' democracy
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole