Society

Ma only KMT candidate for 2012 Taiwan election

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-10 09:01

TAIPEI - Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman and Taiwan incumbent leader Ma Ying-jeou is very likely to be the only KMT candidate to run for next year's election of the island's leader.

Ma officially declared his intention to seek his second four-year tenure on Thursday by applying for the KMT's nomination for Taiwan leader election next year.

Related readings:  Mainland pushes currency clearing mechanism with Taiwan  Mainland, Taiwan to hold trade, culture forum  Taiwan man plans to kiss soil across mainland  Taiwan investment not to be marginalized: Premier

The deadline of application for the party's nomination was on Friday, and with no likely intra-Party rivals for the nomination, Ma is expected to be formally nominated as early as in early May after the KMT Central Standing Committee endorsement.

The island's two major parties, the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), on Saturday both launched their campaign rallies for the election.

At a rally initiated by members of the KMT's Central Standing Committee, Ma encouraged some 700 KMT delegates from around Taiwan to unite and listen to more public voices, and to strive for support from people living in the island's central and southern regions and win next year's election.

Also on Saturday, three candidates for the opposition DPP's nomination, the DPP's Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen, former chairman Hsu Hsin-liang and Su Tseng-chang, stated their political views on a live television broadcast.

The three candidates for the DPP nomination will have three more live TV debates for the party to make its final nomination of a candidate for next year's election.