Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), said
Wednesday the resignation of Ma Ying-jeou from the post of KMT
chairman has taken effect.
The KMT had tried to persuade Ma to remain in the post but he
was firm in his decision, Wu Den-yi, secretary-general of the KMT,
was quoted as saying by Taiwan media.
The party will elect a new chairman in three months according to
its regulations.
Ma Ying-jeou submitted his resignation on Tuesday after he was
indicted on charges of corruption.
At a press conference held to announce the resignation, Ma
defended himself against the charges and immediately declared that
he would run for the 2008 Taiwan leader election if selected KMT
candidate.
Taiwan prosecutors said Ma diverted 11 million New Taiwan
dollars (US$333,000) from Taipei's special allowances funds to his
private account when he was mayor of Taipei.
The clean government committee, which operates under the KMT,
published an investigation report after Ma's indictment was
announced, arguing that the special allowances deposited in Ma's
personal account had all been used for public welfare
services.?
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2007)