Defiant in the chilly night, 20,000 protesters in Taiwan's capital vowed not to go home without the promise of a presidential vote recount after Chen Shui-bian won a razor-thin victory on a wave of sympathy hours after surviving an assassination bid.
The crowd of protesters, facing ranks of helmeted police in full riot gear massed in front of the Presidential Office, grew through the day to back opposition leader Lien Chan's contention that a suspiciously high number of spoiled votes had been cast on Saturday.
Seeking a personal explanation of the mystery of the election eve shooting and the invalid votes, Lien asked for a face-to-face meeting with Chen.
"It has been three days and our highest leader has not given us an answer, so Chairman Soong and I want to meet the president," said Lien, referring to his running mate, James Soong, who heads the People First Party.
Thousands of protesters braved a chilly drizzle to demonstrate for a second day and the Nationalist Party said it planned to mobilise more than 200,000 people to march on the Presidential Office next Saturday.
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