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Opposition's second election suit rejected
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-30 22:09
Taiwan's high court yesterday rejected the opposition's second lawsuit to
nullify the highly disputed March 20 "presidential" votes which saw the
re-election of Chen Shui-bian.
Presiding Judge Cheng Ya-ping announced the opposition's demand was overruled
because no systematic fraud was found.
The opposition can appeal the decision within the next 20 days, she was
quoted as saying by Taiwan media.
The ruling came after the court rejected a separate Kuomintang (KMT) petition
in November and upheld Chen's controversial victory.
Chen won a second four-year term by a razor-thin 0.2 per cent margin
following an election-eve shooting that slightly injured him and his running
mate, Annette Lu.
Opposition challenger Lien Chan, also chairman of the KMT, has alleged the
mysterious shooting might have been staged to cause a swell of sympathy votes
for Chen of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
The opposition launched its first legal bid to annul the result of the
elections and demand a full vote recount on March 29, which was rejected by the
high court on November 4.
The opposition has appealed the decision to the island's "supreme court,"
arguing the high court had failed to thoroughly investigate election
irregularities.
In yesterday's case filed by Lien on April 5, the opposition sought to
nullify the whole election and hold a new vote.
Opposition attorneys had alleged that the election was tarnished by
widespread vote-rigging and other irregularities.
They also accused the "central election commission" of violating the law by
not suspending the election after security forces were put on alert following
the shooting, which prevented members of the military from casting their
ballots.
The new verdict drew anger from the KMT-led opposition yesterday as dozens of
protesters scuffled with police outside the courthouse.
Lawmaker Chiu Yi from the opposition People First Party, the KMT's ally, said
"the ruling shows Taiwan's judicial system is manipulated by
politics."
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