Taiwanese voters went to the polls Saturday to elect a new 113-seat Legislature, a contest widely seen as a referendum on President Chen Shui-bian and his often divisive handling of Taiwan's tense relations with rival China.
Voter turnout was expected to be high, with a key presidential election coming in two months and increasing voter dissatisfaction over the state of a once-vibrant economy that has been overshadowed by China's boom.
Chen, who must step down after eight years as president, has been criticized for aggravating relations with Beijing by promoting policies to formalize Taiwan's de facto independence from China. Critics say that has allowed the economy to lose competitiveness and ratcheted up tension in the perennially edgy Taiwan Strait.
Analysts expect Chen's Democratic Progressive Party to receive a drubbing in Saturday's poll, allowing the Nationalists to expand its slim legislative majority.
If the Nationalists make huge gains and go on to recapture the presidency, the elections could end years of political deadlock and stabilize the island's rocky relations with China, which still considers Taiwan a part of its territory and has threatened unification by force nearly six decades after the sides split amid civil war.
The Nationalists lean toward eventual unification with China.
Reflecting the heated political atmosphere, the Justice Ministry said it had received more than 6,000 complaints about alleged vote-buying, many believed to be filed by candidates in order to smear their opponents.
In a dramatic move on the election's eve, Nationalist candidate Ho Tsai-feng shaved her hair to proclaim her innocence, denouncing rivals for making false vote-buying accusations against her and allegedly harassing her children in her constituency in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan.
After casting his ballot in a Taipei school Saturday, office worker Tsai Ting-yu said he believed the election was crucial for Taiwan's future.
"I voted for a party which can bring us economic prosperity and peace," he said, declining to identify the party he voted for.
Chen's DPP has acknowledged its original target of 50 seats seems out of reach. A big Nationalist victory would provide a substantial boost for Ma Ying-jeou, who will be running for the party against the DPP's Frank Hsieh in March 22 presidential elections. Recent opinion polls show Ma with a lead of 20-30 points.
During Chen's two terms as president, the Nationalists have used a slender legislative majority to block many of his policy initiatives, including the purchase of a multibillion-dollar (euro) package of American weapons.
Ma has been at the forefront of the Nationalists' legislative campaign, pressing home his message that Chen's emphasis on underscoring Taiwan's separate status from China has hurt the island's economy and increased tension with Beijing.
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