KMT lawmaker threatens suicide if Ma loses presidential election

Alex Fai of the opposition Nationalists said he felt extremely sad about the controversy surrounding an opposition invasion into the Taipei headquarters of Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh on Wednesday.

If the incident costs Ma his presidential victory, Fai said, "I will not exclude the possibility of ending my own life."

Ma enjoys a 6-8 point lead in opinion polls.

Addressing reporters in Taipei, Fai said he was resigning his party membership over the Wednesday incident.

Fai and three other Nationalist lawmakers barged into Hsieh headquarters and later had to be extricated from the area by riot police after they were besieged by enraged DPP supporters. Fai had earlier alleged that Hsieh procured offices in the building, owned by the government-controlled First Bank, without paying rent.

The bank denied the charge.

Fai's suicide threat followed a televised Ma apology to Hsieh and the public at large over the incident.

"It is appropriate that lawmakers should question officials," Ma said. "What went wrong was how they exercised their power."

It is not uncommon for Taiwanese politicians to make extraordinary threats during heated election campaigns.

Before January's legislative poll, DPP lawmaker Wang Shih-cheng said he would jump into the sea if his party failed to win a single seat in the city of Taipei.

The Nationalists ended up with a clean sweep there, and Wang made good on his promise - though without any lasting ill effects.

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