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Taiwan's opposition KMT votes to elect new chief
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-16 09:00 TAIPEI - Taiwan opposition party members voted
Saturday to elect a new leader, with hopes high the successful challenger will
reinvigorate the party after its last two election defeats and return it to
power.
Taipei Mayor Ma
Ying-jeou | After a tight campaign race, as many as one million Kuomintang (KMT) members
will choose between Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and "parliamentary speaker" Wang
Jin-pyng in the first contested leadership race in the party's 111-year history.
Voters were already lined up at some of the 680 polling booths across the
island as they opened at 8:00 am. They were also to vote, before polls close at
4:00 pm, for 985 party delegates from 1,356 candidates.
Ma and Wang are both running on a platform of fighting corruption, pushing
for democratic reforms and promoting harmony between the Kuomintang's factions.
They have also vowed to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty, but have rejected
"President" Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) push towards
independence.
Observers say the two carry equal weight and that although the charismatic
and handsome Ma is leading in opinion polls, turnout will decide whether he can
beat 64-year-old Wang, credited with strong ties in the party's grassroots.
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