VZCZCXRO7915
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #1382/01 1690751
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 180751Z JUN 07
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5691
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6920
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 1166
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1954
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5922
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0342
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8174

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001382 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AIT/W, EAP/TC, INR/EAP 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT: Kaohsiung Mayoral Election Nullified 
 
REF:  A) 2007 Taipei 0520  B) 2007 Taipei 0273, C) 2006 Taipei 4125 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  In a surprise to DPP and KMT alike, the Kaohsiung 
District Court on June 15 annulled the result of last December's 
Kaohsiung mayoral election in which the DPP's Chen Chu defeated KMT 
candidate Huang Chun-ying by a narrow margin.  The same Court 
dismissed a separate but related suit filed by the KMT claiming vote 
manipulation and fraud.  Mayor Chen Chu, who has announced she will 
appeal what is viewed as a quite controversial ruling, will remain 
in office pending the result of her appeal; the case could take up 
to six months to resolve.  If the appeals court confirms the 
original ruling, there would be a by-election in which Chen Chu 
would be disqualified from running.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Kaohsiung District Court issued rulings on June 15 
concerning two controversial lawsuits (see reftels) surrounding the 
2006 Kaohsiung mayoral election.  In a surprise to DPP and KMT 
alike, the Kaohsiung District Court annulled the result of last 
December's Kaohsiung mayoral election.  In a ruling that a number of 
observers here say is quite controversial from a legal perspective, 
the court found that DPP candidate Chen Chu's campaign office 
willfully and illegally engaged in campaign activity designed to 
interfere with the KMT's chance at a fair election result.  At a 
time when all campaigning was to have ceased, Chen Chu's staff 
provided a video tape to selected television stations for broadcast. 
 This videotape (see ref B) purportedly showed Huang's campaign aide 
distributing cash to voters mobilized for a Huang campaign rally and 
alleged that Huang was involved in vote-buying.  The court found 
that in the absence of direct and concrete evidence at the time, 
this activity by the DPP on the eve of the election caused a serious 
negative impact on the results.  The court ruled that this behavior 
hindered others from exercising their right to campaign and vote 
freely.  Although the vote-buying accusations were later proved to 
be true against two KMT supporters, who were indicted for vote 
buying related to the videotaped incident, the court ruled in its 
verdict that "The tactic [of releasing the videotape to the media] . 
. . was enough to influence the election result." 
 
¶3.  (U) According to media reports, Chen Chu, with the backing of 
the DPP and President Chen, announced she would appeal, whereas 
Huang said he was ready to run for mayor again should the Taiwan 
High Court order a Kaohsiung mayoral by-election.  According to the 
Election Law, the verdict on Chen Chu's appeal should be announced 
within six months after the appeal is filed, and a by-election 
should be held within three months of the final ruling if the ruling 
confirms the original court decision.  According to the Public 
Official Election and Recall Law, a winning candidate who loses an 
annulment lawsuit because they had been found to interfere with 
other parties' electoral campaigns or others' right to vote would be 
barred from any by-election.  Therefore, if the appeal court 
confirms the original ruling, Chen Chu would be barred from running 
in a by-election. 
 
¶4.  (U) In a separate ruling, the court dismissed another lawsuit 
also filed by Huang Chun-ying after losing the Kaohsiung mayoral 
election.  This ruling was the result of a recount ordered by the 
Kaohsiung District Court on February 1, 2007, to determine if the 
DPP had committed voter fraud (see refs A and B).  The actual 
recount showed the certified 457 defective ballots would not have 
changed the election result, in which the difference now stands at 
1,171 votes in favor of DPP Mayor Chen Chu.  Based on the results of 
the recount, the Court dismissed Huang's request for nullification 
based on voter fraud. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) KMT Kaohsiung Party Chairman Hsu Fu-ming told AIT/K that 
the court ruling is an important milestone in Taiwan's democracy as 
it will help to stop practices of negative campaigning, libel and 
fraud.  Hsu praised the presiding judge, who, he maintained, has 
written a new page in Taiwan's legal history.  Hsu, however, 
criticized President Chen Shui-bian and high-level DPP government 
officials for making what he described as "inappropriate statements" 
against this court ruling.  Hsu said the executive branch should not 
interfere in the judicial system, noting Taiwan needs an independent 
judiciary to ensure fair trials.  Hsu further pointed out that Huang 
Chun-ying was never involved in vote-buying, declaring the KMT would 
sue DPP rivals if they continue to make such allegations.  Hsu said 
this court ruling will give a big boost to morale in the pan-Blue 
camp and to the campaigns of pan-Blue candidates in both legislative 
and presidential elections, and in the by-election of Kaohsiung 
mayor if it occurs. 
 
TAIPEI 00001382  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) DPP Kaohsiung City Party Chairman Chang Chi-ming told 
AIT/K that the court ruling was "illogical and ambiguous," adding 
that his office has set up a public affairs and legal task force to 
deal with inquiries and other matters related to the court ruling. 
Chang stated that while he respects the judicial system, he cannot 
accept this ruling.  Chang advised AIT/K to pay careful attention to 
the highly unusual dissenting opinion filed by Judge Ku Chen-hui, 
who disagreed with the legal reasoning of the ruling.  Legislator 
Kuan Bi-ling confirmed to AIT/K that the DPP will appeal this 
ruling.  Kuan suggested that the prevalence of KMT members among 
prosecutors and the judiciary led to this "mistaken judgment" by the 
Kaohsiung District Court. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In a separate discussion in Taipei on June 16, KMT 
presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou told AIT Chairman Ray Burghardt 
and Director Young that the KMT wants Mayor Chen Chu to step down 
and either allow new elections or yield the job to Huang.  He 
acknowledged, however, that Chen Chu is almost certain to appeal. 
That could lead to a by-election sometime early next year, although 
probably not at the same time as the LY or Presidential elections, 
according to Ma.  In another meeting, DPP candidate Frank Hsieh 
confirmed to the Chairman and Director that Mayor Chen Chu will 
remain in office while appealing the court decision, but he also 
opined that the DPP will at least consider the possibility of having 
an early by-election in Kaohsiung, if their analysis suggests this 
would help the DPP overall. 
 
¶8.  (U) Press reports are rife with speculation from academics and 
others that this annulment could endanger the smooth operation of 
city government work in Kaohsiung.  Shi Cheng-feng, a professor of 
public administration at Tamkang University, was quoted as saying 
"The annulment could endanger the legitimacy of her [Chen Chu] 
victory and lead to a boycott by the pan-blue camp in the city 
council."  Already Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chuang Chi-wang, a 
KMT member, has demanded before the press that Chen step down, 
adding that pan-Blue city councilors will take further action soon. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The court ruling for nullification came as a surprise to 
Kaohsiung residents, most of whom had not expected Huang Chun-ying's 
lawsuits to amount to anything.  Announcement of the ruling on the 
eve of a four-day Taiwan holiday in which locals are concentrating 
on the Love River's Dragon Boat races seems to have tempered 
immediate reactions.  AIT/K will follow up in the coming days with 
prosecutors, politicians and party officials to look into the 
political and complex legal aspects of this ruling, which has the 
potential both to hamper the work of Kaohsiung's current 
administration and to exacerbate the existing Blue-Green political 
confrontation. 
 
 
THIELE 
 
YOUNG