Wang enjoys the fruit of his labor

Now that 12 legislators have been elected to the KMT's most crucial policy-making body, the party's newly-appointed vice chairman, Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is also speaker of the Legislative Yuan, is expected to wield considerable influence over the party as a whole.

Wang actively rallied votes for the lawmakers who ran in the Central Standing Committee (CSC) election and yesterday he enjoyed the fruits of his labors.

"I am satisfied with the results and with 12 lawmakers being elected as KMT Central Standing Committee members," Wang said.

Wang, who graduated from National Taiwan Normal University (師範大學), began his political life as a lawmaker in 1974 at the age of 34. He was the youngest lawmaker at the time. He was elected as the speaker of the legislature in 1999.

Before becoming legislative speaker, he spent several years as deputy to the former speaker Liu Sung-pan (劉松藩), beginning in 1993. Some observed that during that time he followed the so-called "subordinate philosophy" (老二哲學) -- meaning that one should be content with a lower level position and be careful not to show too much intelligence or outshine one's boss.

In addition, he showed a talent for coordinating differing opinions and getting along with colleagues. These traits led to his final success when he sought the chief position in the Legislative Yuan.

Since losing the reins of government in the March 18 election, the legislature, in which the KMT holds a majority of seats, has become the party's main means of supervising the DPP government.

The change in the political situation has helped the 60-year-old Wang to be promoted within the KMT. When it came time for the KMT to appoint a vice chairman, Wang's position in the legislature gave him an advantage over his party colleagues.