President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on the opposition to trust the nation's judiciary ahead of a recount of last month's disputed presidential poll.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led opposition has filed a lawsuit demanding a recount and nullification of the March 20 vote, which it says was marred by irregularities and an unsolved election-eve shooting of Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
The High Court has ruled that a comprehensive recount should begin on May 10 at the latest, in order to be completed before Chen's scheduled inauguration on May 20.
"I firmly support a legal settlement of the election dispute," Chen said while addressing trainees at a leadership school affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party.
"But I'm very worried how government authority is to be enforced if there is no trust in the judiciary, investigators, professional physicians or even international forensic experts," he said.
The opposition argues the shooting, which left Chen and Lu slightly injured, mobilized a sympathy vote in Chen's favor. He won by 0.22 percent, or less than 30,000 votes, over KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The opposition has challenged government efforts to investigate the incident, despite the involvement of US forensics experts, and claims it may have been staged, an allegation Chen denies.
Opposition supporters have staged a string of protests, several of which turned violent.
In the worst case, protesters on April 10 targeted police with gas bombs and slingshots, leading to clashes which left more than 140 injured.
Chen also accused the opposition of trying to justify the violent acts as patriotic.
The opposition has threatened to hold another massive rally on May 19 or on inauguration day unless he agrees to set up an independent investigation to probe the shooting.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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