Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Political observers have speculated that Ma may run in the next presidential election and are already keeping a close eye on the mayor.
Ma brushed aside such talk saying he is just interested in the post because of his desire to help reform the party.
The outcome was "satisfactory," Ma said after hearing the results. "It's close to what I had expected."
"The reason I ran for the position was to keep pushing for party reform, not to strive for political power," he said. About 40 percent of the 236 delegates voted for Ma, who received 112 votes.
Although many had expected the level of support for Ma to be higher, lawmaker Chen Horng-chi (
"Too many people have high expectations of him," he said. "Although he's very popular in the northern metropolitan areas, people in the south are not that familiar with him."
Chen dismissed speculation that there was any opposition to Ma within the party.
"I've heard something about it, but I haven't seen any action," he said.
Former party spokesman Huang Hui-chen (黃輝珍) agreed. "He's a member of the party elite, but not yet one of the leaders. Since he's not a leader, there's no so-called anti-Ma faction within the party."
Ma's popularity, both inside and outside of the party, has sparked debate that he might be a potential party candidate at the next presidential election.
Chen, however, was not optimistic about the idea, even though he did not rule out the possibility. "I think he will be much better off running for mayor again," Chen said.
"If he does a good job in his second term, he may have a better chance of winning any future presidential election."
Peng Tso-kwei (彭作奎), former Council of Agriculture chief, said Ma could face an uphill battle if he decides to run so soon for president.
"He would have to win recognition from within the party before any presidential run," he said.
RSS