Jubilation as Taiwan's opposition wins presidency
Posted: 23 March 2008 0014 hrs

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TAIPEI: Thousands of jubilant supporters waved flags and shouted campaign slogans at the headquarters of Taiwan's opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou after he claimed victory in Saturday's presidential election.

"President Ma!" "President Ma!" they shouted to the loud music of a campaign song as Ma arrived at party headquarters in the capital Taipei and stepped on to the stage.

"This is a victory for people who hope for change and openness and reform, to march forward," he told his Kuomintang (KMT) party, after thrashing ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chief Frank Hsieh.

"This election result is not a personal result or a victory for the KMT, it is a victory for all Taiwanese people," he added from behind a bullet-proof screen.

KMT supporters sang, danced and let off firecrackers as they partied in the capital and elsewhere.

Waving a KMT election flag, Chang Kai-hua, an employee of a local computer network company, said he was hopeful Ma "would do his best to boost Taiwan's economy", a promise he had made in the run-up to the vote.

Chang also wished Ma would take steps to heal the wounds caused to society during months of crunch campaigning.

Meanwhile several miles (kilometres) across town, some 1,000 DPP supporters frantically shouted slogans pledging to continue supporting the party for the sake of democracy despite its second humiliating defeat in three months.

"The Taiwanese people have cast their vote and made their decision," Hsieh said while addressing the crowd.

"We accept defeat. It's my own defeat; it's not the defeat of the Taiwanese people. Please don't cry for me."

However, a tearful Tiffany Lu, 19, who returned to vote from Los Angeles, said she was deeply upset by the setback.

"Why other people cannot hear our voices?" she asked, wiping away tears.

"I don't want our country to be destroyed by the Beijing-friendly KMT," she said, referring to DPP warnings Ma, born in Hong Kong, would sell out to the Chinese government.

"There is hope only when we stand out in the world," she said.

Another DPP supporter, Yang Chang-hung, said: "The result is very disappointing, but I respect it. Those who did not vote for the DPP do not realise the critical situation that our country is in."

At least 10 DPP lawmakers spoke one by one on the stage outside campaign headquarters appealing to loyal supporters not to ditch the party "who have been fighting against the corrupt KMT government and made a big contribution to Taiwan's democracy".

Hsieh's campaign leaders repeatedly bowed to the crowd, apologising for the results "which have let you down".

But one, Yeh Chu-lan, assured them that "the DPP, as it did in the past, will stick to the road of democracy" in a bid to boost morale.

Several DPP parliamentarians also vowed to do their best in the assembly to ensure Taiwan's sovereignty "will not be sacrificed while Ma deals with Beijing".

"We have no right to feel sad at this moment. Although we are a minority in parliament, we will strive to serve as a balance to check the KMT government," the DPP's Tsai Huang-lang.


- AFP/so