The mainland side will not be indifferent if the current situation in Taiwan worsens and gets out of control, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said in Beijing yesterday.

"We will not sit back and look on unconcerned should the post-election situation in Taiwan get out of control, leading to social turmoil, endangering the lives and property of Taiwan compatriots and affecting stability across the Taiwan Straits," the spokesman said.

"We have noticed that the electoral institution of Taiwan region has announced the (March 20) election results in disregard of strong opposition from one competing side," the spokesman said.

"We have also noticed that the opposition side refused to accept the results and that they are continuing their protests."

In taipei, hundreds of Taiwanese protesters scuffled with riot police, threw eggs and broke windows yesterday as they stormed into the Election Commission's headquarters, where officials certified the results of last weekend's disputed election.

Opposition lawmakers fired up the angry crowd of about 2,000 with speeches, warning that certifying the vote would spark violence.

"I warned them this could cause a volcano to erupt. It's like a match that could ignite the fuse to a powder keg," lawmaker Lee Ching-hua told the crowd after meeting with election officials.

Despite the violence, the commission certified that Chen Shui-bian won last Saturday's election, Taiwan's news agency reported.

Certifying the vote is merely a formality required by the law within seven days of the election. Those who want to challenge the results can still do so within 30 days of the certification.

Chen won by a margin of less than 0.2 percent. Challenger Lien Chan immediately demanded a re-count, alleging the vote was marred by irregularities.

Lien has also said that the vote was unfairly influenced by an unexplained election-eve shooting, which slightly wounded Chen and his running mate.

Yesterday, police for the first time released a picture of a possible shooting suspect. The grainy security camera image showed a balding man in a yellow jacket hurrying away from the shooting in the southern city of Tainan. He got on a motorcycle parked in an alley and sped away.

"He is not a suspect yet, but there are some suspicions," said Wang Wen-chung, a deputy police chief in Tainan. Wang urged the man to report to police, and asked the public to help identify him.

Chen has agreed to a re-count of the vote, but lawmakers were wrangling about how to amend election laws to provide a prompt retally of the votes.

"There's little hope of things getting passed soon," said ruling party lawmaker Jao Yung-ching, adding that legislators aren't ready to compromise yet.

Jao said he was "afraid people will only start reflecting about things after there is bloodshed or violence at the protest," planned for today. The event is organized by the two main opposition parties: the Kuomintang Party and the People First Party.

The opposition expects the rally in downtown Taipei will draw about 500,000 people. They were expected to demand a re-count and an independent investigation into the shooting.