Kuomintang chairmanship election, 2015

Kuomintang chairmanship election, 2015

17 January 2015

Turnout 56.34%   Nominee Eric Chu Popular vote 196,065 Percentage 99.61%

Chairman before election Ma Ying-jeou Wu Den-yih (acting) Elected Chairman Eric Chu

The Kuomintang chairmanship election of 2015 (Chinese: 2015年中國國民黨主席補選) was held on 17 January 2015 in Taiwan. This was the fifth direct election of the chairman in the Kuomintang history. All registered, due-paying KMT party members were eligible to vote.

History

The election was called after Ma Ying-jeou resigned from the Kuomintang Chairmanship to take responsibility for the party's heavy losses during the local elections held on 29 November 2014.^[1] Six KMT members, among them Clara Chou and Lee Hsin, attempted to register for the election, but five were rejected.^[2][3] Eric Chu, who had just been reelected Mayor of New Taipei in the November elections,^[3] was the only officially confirmed candidate.^[4]

Result

Candidate	Total votes cast	Percentage of vote
Eric Chu	196,065	99.61%
Voter turnout	56.34%

Chu garnered 99.61% of all votes, setting a new KMT record for percentage of votes won.^[5]

Reactions

• Democratic Progressive Party - Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen sent congratulatory flowers and a message to KMT headquarters after the polls closed. The message read, in part, "heavy responsibilities, long road ahead."^[5]
• Communist Party of China - Secretary-General Xi Jinping congratulated Chu immediately after the election. He expressed that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could continue adhering the 1992 Consensus and oppose Taiwan independence to push for the peaceful development of Cross-Strait relations.^[6]

See also

• Elections in the Republic of China
• List of leaders of the Kuomintang

References

1. Li-jung, Liu; Tseng, Ying-yu; Huang, Li-yun; Lee, Hsin-Yin (10 December 2014). "KMT to elect new chairman Jan. 17". Central News Agency. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
2. Chung, Lawrence (12 December 2014). "New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu to run for Kuomintang chairman". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
3. Shih, Hsiu-chuan (13 December 2014). "Eric Chu puts hand up for KMT role". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
4. Huang, Kelven; Low, Y.F. (13 December 2014). "New Taipei mayor to run uncontested in KMT chair election". Central News Agency. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
5. Chyan, Amy (18 January 2015). "99.61% of votes name Chu KMT chair". China Post. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
6. Wen, Kuei-hsiang; Liu, Claudia; Wu, Lilian (17 January 2015). "Eric Chu elected Kuomintang chairman (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 8 September 2015.