Ma called on Wu at the KMT headquarters in an apparent move to quell the rife speculation that he would concurrently serve as party chairman after Wu's term expires in June.

The president lauded the significant contributions of Wu, including the party's huge victories in the lawmaker and presidential elections last year as well as the improvement in the relations across the Taiwan Strait.

Ma said he expressed sincere gratitude to Wu's outstanding performance with the belief that Wu will hold a significant position in the history of the KMT.

He said both have agreed to leave the issue concerning party chairmanship until June, a decision they already jointly made in September last year.

For now, the top priority for both the government and the ruling party is to work together to maintain the momentum for the emerging economic recovery, Ma said.

Wu said he has steadfastly supported Ma for more than 10 years and there will be no change in the position in the future.

He said he always cherishes Ma as a rare talent to serve the people and the country.

Wu stressed this is his top consideration when he has to decide if to run for reelection as party chief.

There are no problems between President Ma and the party headquarters and people who want to sow the seeds of discord should exercise self-restraint, he added.

Both Ma and Wu are members of a group of five that meets every Monday to exchange views on important affairs of state and new policies for closer coordination and swift actions.

Other members are Vice President Vincent Siew, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, and Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng and Kuomintang

But the local mass media have recently rekindled the speculation that President Ma, who once served as KMT chairman before running for presidency, is increasingly inclined to concurrently serve as party boss for higher efficiency.

Speaker Wang reiterated yesterday his support for Ma to double as chairman of the party.

He said there will be far more advantages than disadvantages for the president to concurrently hold two positions.

But Wang suggested that Ma and Wu engage in proper communications to avoid competition between them.

Wu Den-yih, KMT secretary-general, said the party will maintain the current democratic mechanism for members to directly elect a party leader.

The only way for President Ma to take the party chairmanship is to join the race for party chief, he said.

But he also emphasized that it is impossible for the two (Ma and Wu) to run against each other for the same position.

There is also rising speculation that Wu Poh-hsiung is very likely to replace Chiang Pin-kung as new chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Taipei's top negotiator with mainland China.

The government has come under pressure from opposition Democratic Progressive Party to replace Chiang for the business dealings between his family and enterprises in China.