Taiwan's ruling party claims poll victory

Taiwan's ruling party claims poll victory

Ma Ying-jeou, who has staked his success on closer economic ties with China, takes strong lead against rival.

Taiwan's incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou is all set for a second term as his ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party claimed victory in the island's presidential election.

The honorary chairman of ruling KMT party said on Saturday that the victory was the result of a unified effort and "didn't come easily".

With about 80 per cent of the vote counted, Ma was leading challenger Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] by about six percentage points.

Voters appeared drawn to Ma's vision of better relations with China over Tsai's attempts to galvanise resentment over growing income inequality and undermining of Taiwan’s sovereignty.

With about half of the votes counted on Saturday, Ma, a 61-year-old former justice minister and mayor of the capital, Taipei, had 52.3 per cent of the vote, with Tsai Ying-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] at 44.9 per cent, according to ETTV and other stations.

The official result is due sometime after 8pm (1200 GMT). The TV stations did not give sources for their figures
while the Central Election Commission put the candidates closer but with a much smaller total of votes counted.

A third candidate, James Soong, a former heavyweight in Ma's Kuomintang (KMT) party, had just 2.9 per cent of the vote.

Ma has staked his re-election on his success in tying Taiwan's high-tech economy closer to China's lucrative markets, while Tsai has attempted to galvanise resentment over growing income inequality and undermining of Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Voting closed at 4pm local time on Saturday.

About 18 million of island's voters across 15,000 polling stations queued to choose between Ma and his main challenger, Tsai Ing-wen, a China-sceptic.

Taiwan's sovereignty

Ma and Tsai, both former law academics with doctorates from Harvard and the London School of Economics respectively, were confident as they cast their vote on Saturday.

"I see a little sunshine now," Ma said after casting his vote at a polling station in the capital, Taipei, on Saturday.

Tsai, casting her ballot at a school in a Taipei suburb, said she was mentally prepared to become the first female president of Taiwan.

Tsai promised stable ties with China, while Ma campaigned on his record, since assuming power in 2008, of swiftly improving ties with China, culminating with a sweeping trade pact signed one and a half years ago. Al Jazeera’s Steve Chao, reporting from Taipei, said: "Will voters here in Taiwan agree with Ma’s pro-China policy over the last four years or will they turn to opposition presidential candidate Tsai." "Ma says his pro-China policies have worked. He points to the fact that there have been more than 500 direct flights every week between the two sides for the first time in 60 years," he said. "He says he has ended Taiwan’s isolationist path and it has also helped Taiwan’s standing on the international front," Chao said. "His opponent, however, has criticised him for selling Taiwan’s sovereignty perhaps, taking Taiwan down the road where there is no going back on island’s sovereignty." Ties with Beijing For the past 10 days, no opinion polls have been allowed, but final surveys published last week showed a race too close to call, with Ma's KMT party leading Tsai by as little as three percentage points. "What's at stake," Al Jazeera’s Chao said, "is the future of Taiwan's course with China, perhaps not just the next few years, but for many decades to come." The presidential vote coincides with a poll for Taiwan's 113-member parliament, where the KMT currently has a majority. With presidential elections looming in the US, and a power transition under way in China, the US and China will be keeping a close eye on the poll in Taiwan, which has been a traditional trouble spot between the two powers. Taiwan has governed itself since 1949, but China claims it as part of its territory, and has never ruled out the use of force to bring about reunification.

Source:Al Jazeera and agencies