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Campaign club for Ma's presidential bid opens in Taipei

A national campaign club in support of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) presidential bid was launched in Taipei yesterday.

The club, named the "A-jeou Support Network" (阿九後援會), was formed by 46 KMT city and county councilors with the goal of helping Ma win next year's presidential election.

Placing the syllable "a" in front of the last word of a person's given name indicates familiarity with that person.

Ma attended a ceremony to launch the club yesterday, and enthusiasm filled the venue as he arrived.

In his brief remarks to his supporters, Ma restated that he would pursue economic development, closer ties with China and establishing a corruption-free bureaucracy if elected.

After his remarks, Ma handed a battle banner with the character "Ma" to each of the 46 club organizers.

"Ma's victory will keep Taiwan going!" participants shouted like a battle cry as they accepted the flags from Ma.

Ma has put each of the organizers in charge of developing local chapters.

"Although there are only 46 of us in the organization, we will recruit new blood from around the nation," a participant said.

The organizers hope especially to attract young blood to the party. All the current members are under the age of 40. Local councilors are important assets for a presidential candidate, as they usually help influence community leaders.

Ma announced his bid to run for the presidency on Feb. 13, after being indicted on the same day for allegedly misusing a special allowance fund during his time as Taipei mayor.

Although Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), a likely contender for the KMT's presidential nomination, has not said that he will run for the nomination, he has repeatedly made comments that have indicated his intention to run.
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