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Campaign Special ( The Victors ) - Chen, Lu thank God as they cast their votes

Recovering from the shock attempt on their lives on Friday and the minor injuries they suffered, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said "God bless Taiwan" as they cast their ballots, saying that neither threats nor violence would destroy their will or stop the Taiwanese people's resolve to march down the democratic road.

"Thank God. For He knows that my career mission is to carry out Taiwan's first referendum in history, and since I had not yet cast my referendum ballot, He has not allowed me to die," Chen said in a statement as he left the polling station, his first public appearance since he was shot and wounded on Friday during a motorcade parade through Tainan City.

"No matter where the bullet may have come from, I will not be felled," Chen said.

"And even if I had been, this would have neither destroyed the confidence of the 23 million people of Taiwan in seeking democracy nor undermine the unity of the nation," he said.

"The path of democracy in Taiwan will always last, because we will never succumb to any kind of threat or any person's violence," he added.

Accompanied by members of his family, Chen arrived at the polling station at around 11:30am, but because of the wound to his stomach, he walked slowly, but with confidence.

Over 100 security personnel with the highest security clearance, including secret service personnel, police and security guards armed with assault rifles, shepherded the president and first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) through the voting process.

At about 11:40am, Chen and his wife completed voting and emerged from the polling station. Hundreds of supporters crowded around the polling station waving flags and holding flowers to express their concern and affection.

Chen then made a short speech to the media.

"I almost didn't live to see you all today," Chen said, before publicly thanking the medical staff who treated him on Friday as well as the public for their concern, especially former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and the opposition parties.

"After the election, I will pay a visit to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), in return for their goodwill visit to my residence on Friday night to express their sympathy," Chen said.

Chen stressed that national security was not under threat, because the government had activated its emergency-response mechanism.

"And I ask the relevant departments in the government to find out the facts behind the shooting incident rapidly as the public would expect," he said.

Regarding the condition of the president and vice president following the shooting on Friday, the head of the presidential medical team, Chen Kai-mo (陳楷模), was quoted by the Presidential Office's public affairs section as saying that both were examined by medical teams yesterday morning and were in good spirits and making a good recovery.

"At 10am they underwent medical examinations. The condition of the president and the vice president was stable and both are recovering well. They were examined by the medical team one after the other, and following the examination they went off to vote," Presidential Office Spokesman James Huang (黃志芳) said.

Lu went to her polling station in Taoyuan County, where she reminded the public to exercise its "obligation" to vote in the country's first referendum.

"Our performance in coping with the incident rationally won high approval from the international community. Now we need to tell the world that we have completed the presidential election and the referendum in peace and also accept the result of the election with sincerity," Lu said.
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