KMT shows humility, eyes 2nd win in presidential race

Voters in Taiwan gave the KMT 81 of the 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan, exactly three times number of the 27 seats garnered by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by President Chen Shui-bian, who announced immediate resignation as party chairman to take responsibility for the “worst setback” in his party’s history.

The KMT and its smaller allies have secured 86 seats in the island’s new parliament, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung told a press conference at party headquarters.

“We understand that you have put your faith in us, but our joy should last for only one night,” Wu said with other party leaders at his side, including KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou.

“I promise we will not abuse the power of the majority but we will use it to stabilize society and unite people, and we will respect the minority in parliament,” Wu said.

“It is clear that people are yearning for change, after eight years of suffering,” said Ma who previously served as Taipei mayor and KMT chairman.

Ma said the DPP was also actually defeated by its own poor performance in the past eight years.

But he also warned supporters that “a more difficult task” lies ahead — securing the presidency.

The resounding win in the legislative election also gives a major boost to Ma in the March 22 presidential election.

Major opinion polls show he still maintains a comfortable lead over the DPP’s presidential candidate Frank Hsieh, who formerly served as Kaohsiung mayor and premier.

Honorary KMT Chairman Lien Chan, who was narrowly defeated twice in previous presidential races in 2000 and 2004, also warned against complacency because of the tougher challenge ahead in March.

Ma and his running mate, former Premier Vincent Siew, have promised to revive Taiwan’s stagnant economy and stressed that pursuing warmer ties with China for “win-win” business policies will open the door to new jobs and investment.

Ma’s aides said President Chen’s stepping as party chief of the DPP will finally give Hsieh the free hand he has earned to run his own presidential campaign.

The election yesterday showed the DPP still got around 37 percent of total ballots cast in Taiwan and offshore islands despite Chen has been blamed for failing to revive Taiwan’s sluggish tech-heavy economy and raising unnecessary tensions with China and even with the United States.

For the next 70 days leading to the crucial presidential race, Ma plans to roll out his campaign platform and major policies for the future.

Through the arrangement of his aides, Ma is also expected to spend more time and meet more people in southern Taiwan — the major power base of the DPP — like what he has done in the past few months.

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