This is really democracy

Corbett | March 21, 2004 11:55 AM

It was pretty amazing last night watching TV, and seeing thousands of upset people demanding a recount. When I first got here, 16 years ago, people were like, "Shhh, don't talk too loud. There's nothing we can do." Now it's ramming down the gates of the courthouse because the court refused to accept their complaints for recalling and sealing the ballot boxes. "Sorry, we're closed until Monday." Who was the moron who said that?

So why are people upset?

- It appears that the order to seal the ballot boxes, ensuring no tampering, won't be processed until Monday.
- There is video footage of 6 year olds voting.
- There's no picture of any of the gunshot wounds which are attached to a head.
- Hundreds of thousands of soldiers couldn't vote because they were put on alert.
- There were over 300,000 voided ballots.
- About half of those ballots were all from one area, Chen's hometown.

It's not so much a matter of, "He got shot, he faked it," but "Hey, we're tired of being duped by all you politicians. We demand an explanation."

Most of my Chinese friends and associates are really depressed. They feel that the past four years have been such a joke, and they are all eager for a change. They've had enough incompetent leadership. Most of these people voted for Chen in the last election because he represented change. Now they are voting against him because he represents another four years of incompetence.

Here is the irony of democracy. People want change, but they also want stability. The party that offered stability never could change. Then the party who offered change wasn't stable enough.

Because of all this the Blues are changing. They are waking up to the Taiwanese voice. Because of all this the Greens are waking up, they realize that change requires direction.

It's refreshing to see that people are now openly expressing their point of view. That's what this is supposed to be about. One thing for sure becomes clear in all this election chaos - There was an 80% voter turnout. People really do care about what happens to this country, and they demand to know.

This is a big change from 16 years ago when I stood there and watched 200 rows of tanks roll by and 2 hrs of low flying military aircraft zoom overhead, and wondered where the hell I was.

Right now (12:00), a lot of Chinese friends are getting up, watching TV again after staying up until 4am, and are on their cell phones getting together other friends in groups to go down and join the demonstrations at the Presidential Palace.

This is really democracy. Change is good, I just hope it can be fair.

Category: Mr. Asia

Comments (4)