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TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S ruling party presidential candidate Thursday accused the opposition of vote-buying to shore up a narrowing lead ahead of the weekend vote.
'As the Kuomintang feel their lead has narrowed, they hope to consolidate their slim lead by the vote-buying measures,' Mr Frank Hsieh told reporters.
Such allegations are not uncommon, but Mr Hsieh's remarks also suggested that Saturday's vote could be closer than the 20-point lead given to his rival Mr Ma Ying-jeou in the last opinion poll before a pre-election ban took effect.
That poll was 11 days ago, before images of China's crackdown in Tibet went around the world and gave Mr Hsieh the opportunity to hammer away at Mr Ma's calls for a common market with China and a peace treaty.
Mr Hsieh said the KMT had planned to spend TW$470 million (S$21.2 million) hiring people to monitor polling booths and mobilise voters.
A Hsieh campaign spokeswoman, Ms Hsieh Hsin-ni, who is unrelated, said he was catching up with Mr Ma and put the two candidates at 50-50.
A spokesman for the KMT rejected the vote-buying charges as 'groundless' but refused to say if Mr Ma was still ahead in voter support.
'Hsieh saying the lead has narrowed is just propaganda to boost the morale of their supporters,' spokesman Mr Lo Chih-chiang, adding: 'We must not sit back in campaigning. Every ballot is important to us.' -- AFP
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