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Ma Ying-jeou signs up for the KMT's primary race

Ma Ying-jeou, seated right, raises his hands as he registers for the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) presidential primary yesterday. Ma is joined by KMT Chairman Wo Poh-hsiung. PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday registered with the KMT to enter the party's presidential primary amid shouts of "A-jeou moves forward, Taiwan will win."

Placing "a" in front of the final character of a person's name indicates familiarity.

With a total of 215,168 signatures from party members -- much higher than the 16,750 needed for registration in the primary -- Ma pledged to revive the nation's economic miracle and raise the country's visibility around the world if nominated as the party's presidential candidate.

"I will join forces with Taiwanese who want to emerge from their plight, and strive for a new way for future generations," Ma said before completing the registration procedures at KMT headquarters.

If elected the next president, Ma said he would create a "new Taiwan."

"I promise to create a new Taiwan that is advanced, optimistic, open, broad and developed," he said.

Surrounded by members of the "A-jeou Support Group," Ma, who announced his presidential bid immediately after resigning as KMT chairman in February following his indictment on charges of embezzling his mayoral allowance fund, said his decision to enter the presidential election was not for personal interest.

"I asked myself why choose a job that will make me extremely busy and maybe even damage my reputation ? But it'll be worth it if my decision can make a contribution to Taiwan's future," he said.

The only one

While it was expected that Ma would be the only party hopeful to claim a registration form, following Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng's (王金平) announcement that he will not enter the primary, a National Kaohsiung Normal University professor named Lei Chiao-yun (雷橋雲) surprised everyone earlier this month by also claiming a registration form.

KMT primary regulations state that candidates must register with the party by today.

The primary will be held on May 26.

After completing the registration procedure, Ma shook hands with KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and the two promised to continue pushing for cooperation between the KMT and the People First Party (PFP).

In response to the signing of a written agreement with the PFP on Friday regarding principles for a KMT-PFP joint nomination system in the year-end legislative elections, Ma said he had always supported party cooperation and that the written agreement was the implementation of the agreement he made with PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) during their meeting in January.

The KMT signed an agreement with the PFP on Friday in return for the PFP's help in stalling a bill by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that proposed to ban individuals convicted of crimes from running for the presidency, a move clearly aimed at Ma.

Wu said the KMT was sincere in its intention to implement the agreement and would soon discuss the details with the PFP.

The KMT would be glad to help if the PFP wants to nominate their candidates under the KMT name, and the party would not exclude the possibility of nominating joint candidates, Wu added.
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