April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party said more than 200,000 people will attend a rally Saturday to protest President Chen Shui-bian's re-election amid concern about a possible repeat of street violence in the capital.

The gathering would be about five times the size of another rally last Saturday that ended in a clash between some protesters and 1,000 riot police. About 500,000 people staged the island's biggest demonstration two weeks ago to urge a recount in an election Chen, 53, won by 30,000 votes out of 13 million cast.

The Nationalist Party, whose Chairman Lien Chan, 67, was defeated in the election, allege Chen may have staged his own shooting a day before the poll to influence the outcome. The High Court hearing the vote recount case hasn't made any decision after more than a week as the two sides deadlock on ground rules.

``The situation is still too volatile to be holding a mass rally like that,'' said Ma Ngok, assistant professor at University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong. ``Some protesters feel the government aren't giving enough answers, others feel their leaders aren't taking a tough enough stance.

Taiwan's benchmark TWSE Index is trying to recover after dropping 10 percent two weeks ago because of protests, including the rally of 500,000 people, in front of the presidential office building. The index has climbed about 8.6 percent since.

Last weekend's clash, in the same area, was the worse violence since the election. The protesters who fought with riot police were remnants of a peaceful rally at nearby Chiang Kai- shek Memorial plaza calling for a special parliamentary committee to probe the shooting. Chen has denied allegations he staged the shooting.

``It just takes a few agitated protesters to create chaos,'' Ma said.

Taipei Mayor Ma, a member of the Nationalist Party, said responsibility for dispersing participants in Saturday's rally will rest with organizers.

High Court

The High Court will hold a closed-door hearing Monday for Chen and the opposition to try to break their deadlock for a vote recount. It's the second hearing since the opposition asked the court to intervene, alleging ``irregularities'' in the election.

``If there's any results from the negotiations, the court will make a decision on whether a recount would go ahead, how to carry it out and the scope,'' court spokesman Wen Yau-yuan said.

At issue is whether the 13 million votes should be checked against a list of registered voters, a process Chen's Democratic Progressive Party argues would take too long. There's only six weeks left until the presidential inauguration.

``One can't expect two parties, each with its own interest to defend, to agree on how the vote recount should be carried out,'' Ma said. ``The High Court should really step in and make the decision. Its voice would be the most authoritative and best serve the aim of moving the process forward.''

Arguments

The Democratic Progressive Party says it's unwilling to bow to demands from the Nationalists to check all votes because the process would take too long. There are 16.5 million registered voters on the island of 23 million people.

``Do you know how tough it is to match all 13 million voters against the list of qualified voters. How long does the opposition propose we took to do that? One year, two, three perhaps?'' said Wellington Koo, a lawyer for the Democratic Progressive Party. ``We refuse to engage ourselves in these endless games the opposition want us to play.''

The Nationalists argue all votes must be checked, citing their internal study that found as many as 100,000 votes were cast on behalf of people who didn't vote. The Central Election Commission disqualified 337,000 votes, saying the ballots were improperly marked.

``There's no way we will compromise,'' said Alex Tsai, Taipei-based spokesman for the Nationalists. ``We must examine the list of voters because that's where the real cheating took place.''

The Nationalists last night refiled a petition seeking to annul the election itself after taking out a provision that would have conflicted with the earlier lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the poll.