Thousands in Taiwan rallied in the streets on Saturday demanding the truth behind the shooting of President Chen Shui-bian one year ago, which opposition parties said might have been staged to win votes for the incumbent in the last election. The rally was organised by the opposition Nationalist party to mark the March 19 shooting of the president and Vice President Annette Lu, who were lightly injured as they campaigned in an open-top jeep on the eve of the 2004 presidential poll.
The next day, Chen won a second four-year term by a mere 0.2 percent margin. An unofficial, opposition-led inquiry later concluded the attack had been staged to win sympathy votes in a tight race.
Led by Nationalist chairman Lien Chan, thousands of people of all ages, carrying banners reading "Seek the truth, uphold justice" and "Chen is the shooter", marched slowly through the streets calling for President Chen to step down.
"This time last year two bullets changed all our destinies. We must unite to seek the truth and justice," Lien told thousands of cheering supporters who had marched to the front of the presidential office.
Lien also criticised the government's opposition to the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the shooting and ridiculed the police investigation into the shooting.
Organisers expected 100,000 people to take part in the march, which streamed through Taipei stopping traffic.
"I'm here because I want the truth," said an elderly man surnamed Tsao, who said he was a retired air force major who fled China with the Nationalists in 1949 after they were defeated in the civil war.
More than half a million people took to the streets in the weeks after the election in what sometimes turned into violent protests outside the presidential office to demand an impartial investigation.
President Chen on Saturday denied the attack was staged and addressed doubts about the shooting in a televised meeting with local officials in the southern city of Kaohsiung.
"Nobody wants to know the truth to come out more than me. I urge everybody to support and recognise the efforts of the investigation task force," Chen said.
Chen also said he did not oppose the establishment of a special commission to investigate the shooting as long as it was in line with the constitution and said he had nothing to fear from an investigation.
The president invited Nationalist party chairman Lien or the chairman of the smaller People First Party, James Soong, to convene such a group or appoint someone else.
Police earlier this month identified a dead unemployed man as their top suspect in the shooting based on testimony from the man's family and security camera footage that they said showed the man leaving the scene of the shooting.