Following its landslide victory in the legislative elections yesterday, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) strengthened its power as the majority party in the legislature by sweeping 81 of 113 legislative seats.
The party won 57 of the 73 district seats and 20 of the 34 legislator-at-large seats. Together with the seats won by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, the pan-blue camp occupied more than three fourths of the legislative seats.
Gathering on the podium at KMT headquarters at 9pm, KMT heavyweights including party chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) thanked supporters for trusting the party with such a heavy responsibility and vowed to take advantage of the majority to improve the effectiveness of the legislature and drive society forward.
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
"We will not abuse the power as the majority in the legislature. The KMT will take the advantage as the majority party to improve the effectiveness of the legislature. In the meantime, we will respect the minority," Wu said.
While stressing that the party would take a "very cautious and humble attitude" in embracing its victory, Ma said the KMT's landslide victory reflected the people's yearning for change, pledging to push for national policies that would stabilize society.
"This is the first time since 1993 that the KMT has had so much power. People in Taiwan are asking for change and we must put the people above the party, fulfilling our duty with humility and meeting their expectations," Ma said.
PHOTO: CNANWARNING: EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL CAN DAMAGE
Asked whether the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) defeat would rally pan-green supporters during the presidential election in March, Ma said the KMT would seek to "take advantage of this win to achieve another win in March."
Long before the KMT responded to the party victory, hundreds of supporters already cramped the headquarters shouting "Go, go, Ma Ying-jeou! Go, go, KMT!"
Watching the vote-counting updates on-screen at headquarters, the supporters shouted and clapped hands as the KMT continued to grab seats, waving national flags, popping up champagne and letting off firecrackers to express their excitement.
Wang said yesterday he expected the party to continue pushing for more bills in the legislature, while declining to confirm whether he would seek re-election as legislative speaker.
Wu said the party had reached a consensus on promoting Wang as the new legislative speaker.
"As to the vice speaker, we will come up with a democratic mechanism to choose the candidate among promising hopefuls. I will not tolerate any party members causing a split in order to get the position," Wu said.
Wu also denied the party would seek to impeach the president with its majority in the new legislature and pledged not to push for the constitutional reform in the next two years.
"We thank voters for giving us a chance and we cherish this opportunity very much. I promise you that we will not use the majority power recklessly," he said.
In response to President Chen Shui-bian's (
New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) yesterday expressed regret over the party's failure to pass the 5 percent threshold to qualify for representation in the legislature and urged the parties to examine the single-district, two-vote mechanism.
The party nominated 10 legislator-at-large candidates, including KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (
Yok said the 5 percent threshold was too high for small parties and called on all parties not to ignore the voice of small parties.
"The total of 12 percent of the ballots small parties received showed that about 1 million voters wanted change. The voice should not remain unheard," Yok said.
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