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Presidential election 2008: 8 days to go: MND to respect results of the election: Tsai

Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) told the legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday that he would pledge loyalty to the new president on behalf of the military following the March 22 election.

"The military will respect the results of the presidential election," Tsai said in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator Shuai Hua-min (帥化民).

KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), meanwhile, asked for information about the recently created "special reaction task force" under Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), launched by the Cabinet to address potential unrest following the election.

JURISDICTION

Lin asked Chief of General Staff Huo Shou-yeh (霍守業) whether the task force would have jurisdiction over the military.

Huo said the president was the only person authorized to command the military.

"Without direct orders from the president, the military will not activate any special mechanisms on election day. Nobody has that authority, including the Cabinet's `special reaction task force,'" Huo said.

In related news, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Hsu Hui-yu (許惠祐) urged the public to stop spreading rumors about "potential threats" to the presidential candidates. He made the comment while attending the legislature's Judicial Committee yesterday morning.

"Everything is under control," Hsu said.

"Constant rumor-mongering and gossip could have an impact on the campaigns. This is something we hope to avoid," he said.

ALTERCATION

Addressing the altercation in front of Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign office on Wednesday, Hsu said NSB agents were fully aware of the latest developments and that they had coordinated with local police to ensure security at the location.

He said that he was glad no one had suffered any major injuries during the incident.

PROMISE

Hsu also promised lawmakers that the NSB would make sure nothing would happen to either presidential candidate before the election.

"All NSB personnel, including myself, are now on 24-hour standby. We are confident in what we are doing," Hsu said.
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