Taipei - Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou was on Sunday elected chairman of the ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), with the outcome of the uncontested poll set to boost his political power. His election is also expected to create the possibility of a meeting between Ma and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in the future, analysts and Taiwanese media said.
The lone candidate in the race, the 58-year-old Ma captured 285,354 votes, or 92.51 per cent of the vote cast, slightly less than the 97.09 per cent obtained by former party chairman Lien Chan, who also ran unchallenged in 2001.
Altogether 57 per cent of the 533,739 party members voted.
"The KMT will closely work with the government in promoting government efficiency and public well-being," Ma said shortly after the results were announced.
The opposition pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party has warned that that having Ma as KMT chairman could result in authoritarian rule in Taiwan.
Ma meanwhile said he had decided to run for the KMT leadership out of a sense of duty and not to extend his power.
He also said that since he became president last year, the global downturn has seriously battered the island's economy, making it difficult for him to deliver on his campaign promises.
Ma promised to reform the party and ensure that it will play a crucial role in maintaining peace between Taiwan and China in the coming decades.
As president, the China-friendly Ma has called for a cross-strait truce and long-term peace, and adopted a policy to engage China.
As KMT chairman, he is in a position to meet with his Chinese counterpart, though Ma has repeatedly said he has no plan to do so in the near future.
Taiwan's pro-independence camp, which claims that Ma supports eventual cross-strait unification, opposes such a meeting.
Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949, and government leaders from the two sides have never met or talked directly since.
