Parties issue final appeal for support

A girl exchanges high-fives with a person dressed in a polar bear suit at a Green Party Taiwan campaign activity yesterday. The party stressed the importance of environmental protection, fighting global warming and protecting polar bears during the rally. PHOTO: CNA

Party 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 (陳水扁), gathered at an election rally for legislative candidate Duan Yi-kang (段宜康) last night, urging the public to get out and vote green today.

Earlier 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.

DPP hopeful Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) was in Kaohsiung City to root for party candidates, while his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), spent the morning wooing voters in Tamsui in Taipei County.

"Ma owes every woman in Taiwan an apology."

Frank Hsieh, DPP presidential candidate

In Taipei County's Jhonghe City (中和), Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and DPP candidate Chao Yung-ching (趙永清) told voters not to be deceived or manipulated by his KMT opponent Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠).

Lu 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 Chen Ching-teh (陳金德) in Ilan County.

Presidential Office Secretary-General Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) yesterday appealed to fellow Hakkas in Pingtung County to vote for DPP candidate Su Cheng-ching (蘇震清).

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 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 (三重), Taipei County, and another in Kaohsiung City -- in an effort to secure at least 12 legislative seats in Taipei County, while soliciting more support in the traditionally pan-green stronghold of southern Taiwan.

KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) spent most of the day in Kaohsiung and Pingtung to accompany party candidates in soliciting votes before rushing back to attend the campaign party in Sanchong.

"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 (吳伯雄) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), joined hands in turning a model of a ferris wheel model as a gesture of luck.

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 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 it would be a big victory for the KMT if the party got 11 seats in the south.

Wu 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 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

Also see: EDITORIAL: A new legislature and old tricks