President Ma Ying-jeou resigned as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang Dec. 2 in the wake of the party’s losses in local government elections the previous Saturday.
“As chairman, I apologize to our supporters for letting our forebears in the party as well as current party members down. I will engage in deep reflection on what has happened,” Ma said during the KMT’s weekly Zhongshan meeting in Taipei City.
“While I will step down, the KMT must not stand still. This moment instead marks a new beginning,” he said. “Although we did not win this battle, we must not abjure our faith or values. We lost the elections, but we shall not lose people’s trust.”
In the Nov. 29 mayoral and magistrate elections, the KMT retained only six seats and garnered 40.7 percent of total votes, while the opposition Democratic Progressive Party won 13 seats and 47.55 percent.
The Cabinet, led by Premier Jiang Yi-huah, resigned en masse two days after the election results were announced.
Since taking over as KMT chairman for the first time in 2005, Ma said, he had regarded reform and unity as his most important responsibilities. “These were the expectations of not only all party members, but also the general public.”
Ma said many reform measures had been implemented during his time as chairman. “But we must admit that the results did not meet the public’s demands. I feel ashamed that the people are so disappointed in the KMT.”
Despite the defeat, he said, “we firmly believe that the fault is not in our overall roadmap for national development or our efforts toward liberalization. We will listen humbly to the voice of the people and remain committed to fulfilling our responsibilities going forward.”
At the end of his resignation speech, Ma called on the rank-and-file to keep in mind what prompted them to take their start in politics and begin a process of reforming from within.
Ma urged all party members to stay calm and work together. “Do not be depressed or discouraged,” Ma said. “Over the past 120 years, the KMT has experienced numerous losses but has never been defeated. Let us make this failure the beginning of our next success.” (SFC-MJH)
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