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ACTIVATION OF NATIONAL SECURITY MECHANISM DID NOT AFFECT VOTE: MND

2004-03-22 18:38:52

    Taipei, March 22 (CNA) Vice Minister of National Defense Lin Chong-pin stressed Monday that the activation of the mechanism to ensure national security following the attack on President Chen Shui-bian Friday had not affected the voting rights of military personnel the following day.

    Lin made the remarks at the Legislative Yuan's Defense Committee when he was reporting on the cross-strait military situation and arms purchase programs after the presidential election and referendum vote.

    But opposition legislators focused their attention on whether the activation of the national security mechanism had affected the voting rights of military personnel. President Chen won re-election Saturday by a slim margin of less than 30,000 votes against his rival, Chairman Lien Chan of the Kuomintang.

    The special framework to ensure national security was activated following the attack on President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu after they were shot and injured while canvassing in Tainan, the ruling party's stronghold in southern Taiwan, Friday afternoon.

    Kuomintang Legislator Chiang Chi-wen, People First Party legislators Ku Chung-lien, Lin Yu-fang, Chin Huei-chu and others said that since the injuries to the president and vice president were not serious and that the presidential election went ahead as scheduled, "there was no need to activate the national security mechanism."

    They also alleged that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) had revised regulations last August so that after the national security mechanism had been activated, military personnel could not leave their posts to vote in rotation, which had been the case previously.

    Legislator Wu Cheng-tien wondered why Minister of National Defense Tang Yiau-min visited the outlying island of Kinmen on election day, resulting in 3,000 military personnel on leave who were not allowed to vote, according to Wu.

    Lin stressed that Minister Tang was unlikely to prohibit those who were on leave from voting.

    He also said that the activation of the national security mechanism had not affected the voting rights of those military personnel on leave, and only affected the more than 13,000 who were on combat alert against possible moves by mainland China during the presidential election.

(By Lilian Wu)

ENDITEM/mw