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.