Even before the Taiwan High Court on Dec. 30 rejected the opposition camp's lawsuit to nullify last year's presidential election, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) knew in their hearts that they were destined to lose the case.
If they really had thought they'd win the lawsuit, a re-election would have been possible and the whole situation might have been reversed. But, in that case, why would Lien publicly announce that he would resign his chairmanship in August for the sake of the KMT's "alternation of generations?" Soong's statement was even more clear: he said after the legislative elections that the Lien-Soong ticket had not won.
It was not surprising that the two lawsuits filed by the opposition camp -- to nullify the election result and nullify the election itself -- were both rejected. Lien and Soong also understand that although they have decided to appeal, they are employing a meaningless delay tactic.
The significance of the first lawsuit is that the ticket of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) remained slightly ahead of the Lien-Soong ticket after judicial agencies re-counted all the votes.
As for the second lawsuit, it clarified some of the opposition camp's accusations -- such as the legality of holding a referendum on the same day as another national election -- something considered illegal under Article 17 of the Referendum Law (公投法). Blue camp lawyers also argued that the launch of the so-called national security mechanism prevented many police an military personnel from voting -- a group widely regarded to be pro-blue.
But most importantly, lawyers for Lien and Soong attacked the judicial system as being unfair when the court made the first ruling on Nov. 4, before the legislative elections. They also claimed the timing of the ruling was a result of the government's political interference. Additionally, they claimed the court purposely ruled on the first case earlier, in which the blue camp was in an unfavorable position, rather than the second case, which was more favorable to them.
But, now the rulings of the two cases have been given, and Lien and Soong have lost them both. Whether or not the KMT and PFP are willing to accept this, the Taiwanese people, as well as the world, have finally seen the truth.
The KMT and PFP made every effort to win the second case. Their lawyers even played a legal trick by withdrawing the case temporarily, in an attempt to choose judges who are pro-blue. But the court is not operated by the blue camp. If they thought they could return to the past, when the KMT was able to manipulate the court, perhaps it is now time for them to face reality. The fact is, the Lien-Soong ticket was indeed defeated in a presidential election that is now proven to have been fair and legal.
Do Lien and Soong really want the words "bad losers" to be etched into the epitaphs on their political gravestones? They have refused to admit defeat, not only in the election but also in the lawsuits. On Dec. 30, KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said during a press conference that judicial justice no longer exists, and that the five-branch Constitution has died.
By taking the judicial system as their object of death, Lien and Soong succeed only in making their epitaphs more disgraceful, and the demise of the KMT regime more miserable.
Chin Heng-wei is the editor-in-chief of the Contemporary Monthly magazine and a national policy adviser to the president.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
President William Lai (賴清德) attended a dinner held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when representatives from the group visited Taiwan in October. In a speech at the event, Lai highlighted similarities in the geopolitical challenges faced by Israel and Taiwan, saying that the two countries “stand on the front line against authoritarianism.” Lai noted how Taiwan had “immediately condemned” the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and had provided humanitarian aid. Lai was heavily criticized from some quarters for standing with AIPAC and Israel. On Nov. 4, the Taipei Times published an opinion article (“Speak out on the
Most Hong Kongers ignored the elections for its Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2021 and did so once again on Sunday. Unlike in 2021, moderate democrats who pledged their allegiance to Beijing were absent from the ballots this year. The electoral system overhaul is apparent revenge by Beijing for the democracy movement. On Sunday, the Hong Kong “patriots-only” election of the LegCo had a record-low turnout in the five geographical constituencies, with only 1.3 million people casting their ballots on the only seats that most Hong Kongers are eligible to vote for. Blank and invalid votes were up 50 percent from the previous
More than a week after Hondurans voted, the country still does not know who will be its next president. The Honduran National Electoral Council has not declared a winner, and the transmission of results has experienced repeated malfunctions that interrupted updates for almost 24 hours at times. The delay has become the second-longest post-electoral silence since the election of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party in 2017, which was tainted by accusations of fraud. Once again, this has raised concerns among observers, civil society groups and the international community. The preliminary results remain close, but both
Beijing’s diplomatic tightening with Jakarta is not an isolated episode; it is a piece of a long-term strategy that realigns the prices of choices across the Indo-Pacific. The principle is simple. There is no need to impose an alliance if one can make a given trajectory convenient and the alternative costly. By tying Indonesia’s modernization to capital, technology and logistics corridors, and by obtaining in public the reaffirmation of the “one China” principle, Beijing builds a constraint that can be activated tomorrow on sensitive issues. The most sensitive is Taiwan. If we look at systemic constraints, the question is not whether
RSS