President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen said he hopes that the blue and green camps would be able to return to political negotiations soon so that they can agree about a ballot recount without conditions attached.
"The Central Election Committee has formally announced the winner of the presidential election, which means that the judiciary proceedings of the opposition parties' lawsuit [to have the election annulled] can go ahead," Chen was quoted as saying by Presidential Office Spokesman James Huang (黃志芳).
"If the opposition parties still think that such an approach is too slow to cope with the critical situation, I urge all parties to return to negotiations to speed up the amendment of the laws," Huang quoted Chen as saying.
According to Huang, the president stressed that all political parties must agree to exclude any preconditions or special considerations from the negotiating process so that a full-scale, transparent recount can be organized as soon as possible.
Chen also praised demonstrators for the self-restraint they exhibited at yesterday's rally. He said that he could fully understand their feelings, having lost two elections himself, as well as having led street demonstrations for decades.
According to Huang, the president said he would welcome any experts recommended by the opposition parties to an independent task force investigating the attack on him and Lu.
Huang said State Public Prosecutor-General Lu Jen-fa (盧仁發) has announced that a special independent task force will be established to investigate the shooting. The task force will include Henry Lee (李昌鈺), a world-renowned forensic scientist who has also served as a consultant to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
Chen also addressed another concern of Lien's -- that more than 200,000 soldiers had been prevented from going home to vote when the government activated the national security emergency mechanism in response to the attack on Chen and Lu on the eve of the presidential election.
"This mechanism was created in 1996 due to China's missile exercises in the Taiwan Strait. At that time, around one-sixth of the military's personnel was asked to stay at their post, but this time it was only one-ninth. There was nothing inappropriate about it," Huang quoted Chen as saying.
Huang said that Chen expressed his appreciation to foreign countries for their congratulatory messages to Taiwan after his re-election. Chen said that these messages represented the international community's respect for Taiwan's achievements in democracy and respecting the rule of law.
"I am the president of all Tai-wanese people, not just of half the people," Huang quoted Chen as saying, "I received those congratulatory massages on behalf of all the nation's people."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday condemned the pan-blue alliance for trashing the election in the international media without providing any concrete evidence.
"We have seen the pan-blue camp's supporters waving signs bearing slogans like `cheating president' and `vote-rigging president' during the demonstration. Although even the president has agreed to a recount, neither Lien nor those demonstrators have given any sign that they would accept the result of a recount. They have not come forward with any evidence to support their allegations," said DPP legislative caucus leader Tsai Huang-liang (
"We regret and are angered by the pan-blue camp's negative appeals, because they have tarnished Taiwan's reputation and damaged our democracy," Tsai said.
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