Mon, Mar 22, 2004 page3

• DPP warns its members not to provoke pan-blues

  • By Chang Yun-ping / STAFF REPORTER
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  Amid nationwide demonstrations in response to the election, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday told party members not to provoke the pan-blue camp's supporters, or else they would face disciplinary measures.

  High-ranking party officials convened an emergency meeting yesterday morning in response to the protests led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) alliance.

  "We ask all our members nationwide to refrain from provocations or impolite language of any kind, or else they will face serious punishment in accordance with the party's disciplinary regulations," DPP Secretary General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said.

  Chang urged KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to shoulder the responsibility of maintaining social order and not to further create any agitation which would harm a democratic society.

  "The Central Election Commission has already announced that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) are the country's 11th president and vice president. If anyone has doubts about the election results, they should resort to the legal process to find a solution," Chang said.

  Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), vice director general of the DPP campaign, said yesterday that the appropriate laws should be revised to enable an automatic recount mechanism if the difference between election results is less than 1 percent.

  "I will propose that the related election laws be amended so that the election authority would have to reseal the ballot boxes immediately and recount the votes if the difference is less than 1 percent," Hsieh said.

  Such a system would eliminate the causes of unnecessary protests, Hsieh said.

  In response to pan-blue supporters' demand that the government recount the votes immediately, Presidential Office Secretary General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) said that the recount should adhere to legal principles and that the pan-blue alliance's use of a populist appeal to demand swift action from the legal authority was unacceptable.

  He urged the pan-blue camp to respect the legal process and put an end to the irrational protests, which could damage Taiwan's international image.

  Chiou yesterday dismissed the rumors that Douglas Paal, the director of the American Institute (AIT) in Taiwan, has tried to meet with the leaders of both political camps for mediation. Chou said Paal had arranged to meet both candidates before the election even took place.

  "It's a routine matter for the AIT director to meet with presidential candidates after the election. It has nothing to do with mediation to resolve the election dispute," Chiou said.

  DPP campaign spokesperson Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) yesterday dis-missed Lien's claim that the election had been unfair and that the assassination attempt on Chen had jeopardized the fairness of the election. He said the blue camp just wanted to change their election defeat around.

  "They made no protest before the election about the president being shot, but after they lost the election they said it made the election unfair," Wu said.
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