TAIWAN: Taiwan's democratic process slipped into turmoil at the weekend when, one day after a mysterious attempt on his life, President Chen Shui-bian won the presidential election by a wafer-thin margin.
The opposition alliance, led by the Nationalist Party and their challenger Mr Lien Chan, said he cheated and want a recount.
The incumbent's victory, by just 29,000 of the 13 million votes cast, was the narrowest margin ever in a presidential election on Taiwan.
The nationalists cited the large number of invalid votes and the impact of the attempt on Mr Chen's life the day before voters went to the polls.
They want a recount of about 330,000 ballots declared invalid - a number 10 times Mr Chen's margin of victory.
The opposition argued that Mr Chen received unfair sympathy votes because of the shooting on the eve of the election, which remains unexplained.
The president, who campaigned on an anti-China platform, and vice-president Annette Lu were shot and slightly wounded while driving in an open Jeep on Friday in Mr Chen's hometown of Tainan in the south of the island.
Ballot boxes were ordered sealed by the High Court, while thousands of protesters gathered in the capital Taipei seeking a recount.
The court gave the nationalists 15 days to provide evidence of their claims of irregularities.
While the court said it was sealing the boxes to preserve evidence, it had not yet ordered a recount.
Police ordered 10,000 Lien supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace to disperse. The demonstrators stood firm, waving Taiwan flags, hooting airhorns and chanting: "Immediate recount, nullify the election." They used blue laser beams to write the characters "A-Bian step down" and "Immediate recount" on the palace tower.
One of the cornerstones of Mr Chen's policies, a proposed referendum on boosting defences - which Beijing warned was a dry run for a vote on independence that could prompt an invasion - failed to gain enough votes to be declared valid.
The Chinese government in Beijing said the referendum's failure was proof that "any intention to split Taiwan from China would be doomed".
Emotions always run high in elections in Taiwan, reflected in the high turnouts - 80 per cent of voters cast their vote in Saturday's presidential election.
The electoral chaos is a major setback for democracy in one of Asia's few effective democracies.
Nationalist Party officials believe Friday's shooting may have been staged to generate sympathy votes. No arrests have been made and police have named no suspects after interviewing shopkeepers along the president's route and checking security tapes.
Mr Chen's office released photographs yesterday showing him being treated for the wound to his stomach. They show him on an operating table, but not seriously hurt. In one shot, he is talking on a mobile phone during treatment.
Mr Chen and Mr Chan agree on most basic issues involving China policy. Neither favours immediate unification, and both are highly distrustful of the Communist leadership.