In a battle with no competitors, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday won the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship election, obtaining 91.85 percent of the votes as he secured the chairmanship for another four years.
Ma received 202,750 of 220,746 votes, while turnout stood at 57.86 percent. While the percentage of the vote he received was lower than it had been in the 2009 election, in which he won 93.87 percent of the vote, the turnout in yesterday’s election was slightly higher than in the previous election, which was 56.95 percent.
Following threats from party members who are unhappy with Ma’s leadership to cast invalid ballots, there were 17,966 spoiled ballots in yesterday’s election, or 8.1 percent of votes. The invalid ballots in the 2009 chairmanship election accounted for 5.8 percent.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
While overall turnout was better than expected, Ma showed no sign of relief when entering KMT headquarters in Taipei to thank election personnel.
In his victory speech, Ma vowed to enhance cooperation between the party and the government, cultivate talent and boost the party’s momentum for future elections.
“By doubling as KMT chairman I can fulfill my duty as the president more efficiently. We must push for close cooperation between the party and the government,” he said.
He brushed aside concerns about the rise in spoiled ballots in the election and stressed his loyalty and expectations for the KMT.
“[The election result] shows that the party is still united, and I am moved by the continuous support of party members,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sent a congratulatory statement to Ma immediately after the election. When asked whether he would visit China and meet with Xi after his presidency ends in 2016, Ma said the two sides must create opportunities and conditions for such a meeting to happen.
Ma will formally be reconfirmed as KMT chairman at the party’s national congress on Sept. 29.
He served as KMT chairman from 2005 to 2007 but resigned after being indicted for alleged misuse of his special allowance fund as Taipei mayor. He was elected again in 2009.
Ma’s win yesterday failed to douse challenges over his leadership.
The party’s 567 Youth Alliance — formed by a group of young party members close to former Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former KMT vice president and chairman Lien Chan (連戰) — renewed its calls for the KMT to revise party regulations and make it mandatory for the term of party chairman to be consistent with the term of presidency.
The proposed regulation would force Ma to resign as party chairman when his presidency ends in 2016.
The alliance also demanded that Ma take full responsibility for the seven-in-one elections next year, and offer to step down if the party fares poorly in the elections, which will encompass polls for all directly elected local government positions from special municipality mayors and councilors to borough and village wardens.
Fears about protests against Ma prompted the Presidential Office to tighten security around KMT headquarters, screening everyone who entered the building.
Students opposed to the Miaoli County Government’s demolition of four houses in Dapu Borough (大埔) staged a small-scale protest yesterday while Ma was casting his ballot in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山).
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2