Taiwan president clears way for ballot recount

TAIPEI - Taiwan's election result is likely to be recounted after President Chen Shui-bian asked Parliament yesterday to change the law to allow votes to be tallied again if a margin of victory is less than 1 per cent.

Chen, who retained the presidency last weekend by a wafer-thin 0.2 per cent, asked his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to submit the proposal as a row over the result stretched into a third day.

The motion could break the political deadlock created when Nationalist candidate Lien Chan complained about the high number of spoiled votes and the impact of an election-eve assassination attempt on Chen.

Lien demanded a recount. The High Court sealed the ballot boxes on Sunday, 10 hours later.

"We have submitted our proposal to Parliament and it is expected to pass today," said DPP whip Chen Chi-mai. The proposed revision would be retroactive.

The Nationalists and their allies - who support the motion - hold a majority in Parliament, meaning the law change could be swift.

The poll result was the closest in the history of Taiwan's young democracy.

Chen outlined details of his proposal at a morning meeting with the heads of Taiwan's five branches of government, said broadcaster ETTV.

"In principle, we will support it," said Nationalist Party whip Lee Chia-chin. "This is a way to resolve the problem."

Once Chen signed a revision into law, the recount could start as early as tomorrow.

Several thousand Lien supporters were massed outside the presidential palace in central Taipei for a third day yesterday, vowing not to go home without a recount.

Lien told CNN that the assassination bid had a significant impact on the poll outcome.

"We lost half a million votes," he said.

Chen won by just 29,000 votes out of nearly 13 million cast. Media surveys before the election had put Lien ahead by 6 to 8 percentage points.

Neither Chen nor Vice-President Annette Lu, both slightly wounded by gunshots while campaigning in the south on Friday, has appeared in public since claiming victory on Saturday night.

No one has been arrested in the assassination attempt and police in Tainan say they still have no leads.

- REUTERS