Asia Request to Nullify Taiwan Poll

Taiwan's opposition yesterday asked the high court to nullify last month's presidential election so another can be held. The request came hours after the national police chief offered to resign over the unsolved shooting of the president, Chen Shui-bian, which opposition politicians claim was staged to win sympathy votes.

If accepted, it would be the third resignation of a senior official since the fiercely disputed presidential poll on March 20, which has led to fist fights in parliament, turmoil in the cabinet and up to 500,000 protesters on the streets. Chang Si-liang, the director general of the national police administration, said he had submitted his resignation to take responsibility for the investigation.

Police believe two gunmen were involved in the mysterious assassination attempt on the last day of the campaign. Mr Chen was slightly wounded when a bullet grazed his stomach. Another shell hit his vice-president, Annettee Lu.

Analysts believe the shooting swung the election for Mr Chen. The president, a pro-democracy activist, won by only 30,000 votes, less than 0.2% of the island's 16.5 million electorate.

The opposition candidate, Lien Chan of the Kuomintang party, has refused to accept the result. The interior minister, Yu Cheng-hsien, and the national security director, Tsai Chao-ming, have also quit.

The high court has ordered a recount and given the two sides until tomorrow to decide on how to proceed. Jonathan Watts, Beijing, and agencies