Party heavyweights yesterday crisscrossed the country in a last-ditch appeal for support, with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) favored to retain its majority in a new, trimmed down legislature.
A strong ensemble of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) big guns, including President Chen Shui-bian (
Earlier yesterday, Chen, who doubles as DPP chairman, stood on top of a campaign vehicle for three hours under the scorching sun in Taichung City, waving at passers-by and stumping for DPP candidates. Chen was also scheduled to appear in at least four elections rallies last night in Taipei.
PHOTO: CNA
DPP presidential hopeful Frank Hsieh (
In Taipei County's Jhonghe City (
Lu and Chao burnt fliers distributed by Chang supporters, urging voters to reject smear tactics and vote for a candidate who is "upright."
Former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun drove a scooter for the first time in 20-plus years to rally for DPP candidate Derek Chen (
Presidential Office Secretary-General Yeh Chu-lan (
The president yesterday warned the public against letting the KMT win more than two-thirds of the legislative seats.
"It's sheer arrogance for the KMT to set a goal of winning a two-third or even three-quarter majority. We can never let that happen," Chen said.
He warned that if the KMT were to secure a two-thirds majority, Hsieh could face the possibility of being recalled if he were elected president.
The pan-blue camp had launched four recall motions against Chen during his two-term presidency. All four attempts failed because of a constitutional provision requiring that the motion be approved by two-thirds of the legislature.
"The DPP has to win at least one-third of the legislative seats so that we can prevent the KMT from removing the president, who is elected by the public," Chen said.
Chen also called on voters not to waive their right to vote in the DPP-sponsored referendum.
The referendum could be the last chance to recover the KMT's stolen assets because the KMT might sell all its party assets over the next three years if the referendum fails, he said.
In accordance with the Referendum Law (公民投票法), a referendum on the same subject cannot be held within a span of three years. "Vote for Taiwan, democracy and justice by voting for DPP legislative candidates and the referendum on recovering the KMT's stolen assets," he said.
Meanwhile, KMT heavyweights also spared no efforts yesterday to campaign for the party's candidates across the country, seeking to grab well over half of the 113 legislative seats.
The party chose to hold two major campaign parties on the eve of the elections -- one in Sanchong (
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"I am more optimistic about the KMT's chances in the south, and we will waste no time in promoting the party's candidates until the last moment," Ma said in Kaohsiung.
In Sanchong, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
They were joined by Ma, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who joined them via videoconference from Kaohsiung.
KMT organization and development committee head Liao Fung-te (廖風德) said the party was seeking to win at least half, or more than 66, of the legislative seats.
In Taipei City the KMT was hopeful that all of its eight legislative candidates would get elected and that it would get half of the 22 seats in the south.
Liao said it would be a big victory for the KMT if the party got 11 seats in the south.
Wu yesterday said the KMT would send 18,000 tellers to monitor the vote-counting process in more than 4,000 voting booths today "to prevent the DPP from manipulating election results with dirty tricks."
The tellers will be assigned to ballot booths in eight cities and counties in the south that are governed by pan-green heads to ensure that the poll is handled in accordance with Central Election Commission (CEC) procedures, the KMT said.
"We call on election personnel to count the ballots carefully to prevent any ballots coming out of nowhere after the ballot count," Wu said during a media gathering at KMT headquarters. "I urge Chen Shui-bian not to play the same old tricks again. I will not go and cast my ballot until 30 minutes after Chen has left the ballot booth. I want to wait and see what tricks he will play this year."
"Based on experience, the DPP likes to play dirty tricks between election eve and the closing of votes the day after. We will pay extra attention to prevent any attempts to influence the elections," he said.
In Taipei, Taipei Deputy Mayor Samuel Wu (吳秀光), who has taken a leave of absence as the city's election commissioner because of disputes over the voting procedure, dismissed concerns that the city would dissuade voters from casting referendum ballots because it opposed the referendums.
"We have already arranged the booths in accordance with CEC rules," he said. "Should there be any dispute or confusion at the booths, the CEC will have to take full responsibility."
Meanwhile, a group of female DPP legislators yesterday demanded an apology from Ma, saying messages posted on his official blog were discriminatory against females.
"It is his blog and he is supposed to manage it. How is he going to do a good job as a president if he cannot even take good care of his own blog," DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) said.
An unidentified person left a message on Ma's blog cursing DPP female legislators and said they should be raped.
"Ma owes every woman in Taiwan an apology," Hsieh said.
The message was removed from Ma's blog later yesterday.
Also, the DPP's Hualien headquarters yesterday alleged that a KMT member took advantage of her position as a member of the Hualien Election Commission to encourage local voters not to pick up referendum ballots.
Lai Kun-cheng (賴坤成), spokesman for Hsieh's Hualien campaign headquarters, said he will file a suit with the Hualien District Prosecutors Office today against KMT Fengbin Township Female Association chairwoman Chen Li-wen (陳麗文) for violation of the Referendum Law (公投法).
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG AND STAFF WRITER
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,