- Title: TAIWAN: POLLS CLOSE IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS.
- Date: 11th December 2004
- Summary: (U3) TAIPEI, TAIWAN (DECEMBER 11, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. GV/MV/CU: VOTER REGISTERING TO VOTE AT TEMPLE; LAST VOTER VOTING; INCENSE ON ALTAR (3 SHOTS) 0.22 2. GV/MV/CU: ELECTION OFFICIAL SEALING BALLOT BOX (4 SHOTS) 0.49 3. MV: PEOPLE WATCHING VOTE COUNT 0.55 4. MV/CU: ELECTION OFFICIAL CALLING OUT RESULTS FROM BALLOT BOX; ELECTION OFFICIAL WRITING TALLY OF VOTES ON CHART (5 SHOTS) 1.19 5. CU/MV/GV: MORE OF VOTE COUNT; PEOPLE WATCHING; VOTE COUNT IN TEMPLE (4 SHOTS) 1.42 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th December 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TAIPEI,TAIWAN
- Country: Taiwan
- Reuters ID: LVABCAPGV68HFFC3ZA2QX9EJFVJA
- Story Text: Polls close in Taiwan's legislative elections.
Voting booths across Taiwan have closed at 4 p.m.
(0800 GMT) on Saturday (December 11) and the first results
are expected to trickle in within an hour, starting with
the frontline islets of Quemoy and Matsu off the China
coast.
The final vote count is expected to be completed before
9 p.m. (1300 GMT), the Central Election Commission said.
Taiwan voted on Saturday in legislative elections in
which pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian hopes to
wrest control of parliament from an opposition that is more
conciliatory towards China.
Chen, seeking a mandate for reforms, promises
self-governing Taiwan's 23 million people a new
constitution if he succeeds.
Such pledges enrage China, which claims the democratic
island as part of its territory and says a new constitution
would be a dangerous declaration of independence by a
renegade province that could lead to war.
Earlier in the day, voters cast their ballots in
schools and temples under sunny skies.
Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seeks to take
101 of the 225 seats in the Legislative Yuan (parliament)
and, with its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, win a
mandate to push through policies analysts say are likely to
antagonise Beijing.
A Nationalist-led opposition alliance now holds 51
percent of seats in the chamber.
The legislative campaign, coming hard on the heels of a
hotly contested presidential vote, has deepened bitter
divisions in Taiwan, between those seeking formal statehood
and those who do not want to rule out eventual unification
with China.
Some analysts expect neither side to score a clear
majority on Saturday, forcing coalitions with independents.
China refuses to deal with Chen and most analysts say a
DPP election win would be likely to fuel tension in the
Taiwan Strait, one of Asia's most dangerous flashpoints.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
