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Updated Sunday, December 6, 2009 11:27 am TWN, The China Post news staff



	President Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) says he and his party will continue to push for reforms and review of administrative policies in the wake of the local elections. Declining to perceive the election results as a major defeat, Ma characterized them as disappointing and unsatisfactory yesterday. (CNA) Enlarge Photo

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Results were unsatisfactory: Ma

Ma stressed that in spite of the loss in Hualien, the KMT has sent a clear and loud message that the party will insist on putting forward only candidates without questionable records.

He urged all of the party's victors in the election to abide by the ultimate principles of diligence and fighting corruption to serve the people.

Concerning the possible impact from the issues regarding the government's efforts in securing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, Ma said the majority of people in Taiwan support the pact.

But the executive branch will review and find out any specific parts of the deal which have caused public dissatisfaction and the relevant department agencies will make necessary adjustments before a final agreement is clenched.

In addition to cashing on the economic doldrums and high jobless rate, the DPP has hammered the ECFA plan and the relaxation on the imports of American beef products.

Wu Poh-hsiung, KMT honorary chairman, also called the election results an alert to the party.

Lawmaker John Chih-yang Wu, Wu's son, became the new magistrate of Taoyuan County, a position that was held by Wu himself before and his father.

But the winning margin for John Wu was significantly smaller than previous KMT victories.

Premier Wu Den-yih, who formerly served as Nantou magistrate for eight years, successfully helped the party's candidate Li Chao-ching, the incumbent magistrate, win reelection.

In addition to extending his congratulations to victors in the elections, Wu called for them to turn their attention to administrative work after the election campaigns.

Many analysts pointed out that the KMT did not sustain a major setback because the party's performance still exceeded expectations of retaining 11 seats.

But the results were mostly a result of people's dissatisfaction with the Ma administration rather than satisfaction with the DPP, they said.

KMT leaders' own dissatisfaction with the election results indicated that supporters failed to heed the call for solidarity.

Many voters in the blue camp led by the KMT were reluctant to cast their ballots, causing only a slight edge with 47.88 percent of votes for all candidates garnered by the party's candidates, compared with 45.32 percent won by the DPP.

The analysts said that the overall election results did not necessarily show that Ma seems to have lost his ability to attract ballots as many people have alleged.

Hsinchu magistrate candidate Chiu Ching-chun thanked Ma for a crucial role in helping him win a tight race where he was even challenged by KMT members who broke away from the party.

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Comments

December 7, 2009 johnny.brian@

Members breaking away from political party is an Achilles hill for KMT. DPP always wins election through unconfirmed truth that fools a lot of voters, which gain nothing afterward.

December 9, 2009 ludahai_twn@

The results would have been even worse for the KMT had they not subverted democracy and unilaterally extended the terms of six mayors/magistrates to next year. They definitely would have lost four, likely lost a fifth with only Taichung City a 50/50 toss-up.