Ma re-elected, mainland reiterates 1992 Consensus
Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou was re-elected Taiwan leader Saturday and pledged to work for cross-Strait ties in next tenure.
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Ma Ying-jeou has won the island's leadership election on Saturday. [Photo: Sina.com] |
Ma extended appreciation and gratitude toward his supporters at a large gathering held in the KMT headquarters in Taipei, which was packed by swirling campaigning banners, stunning trumpet and hectic crowds amid a heavy rain.
Downpour did not dampen supporters' enthusiasm while tens of thousands of people shouted "Go for it" or "I love you" in front of the KMT campaigning headquarters.
The crowd echoed with thunderous cheering when Ma shouted on the stage, "Congratulations to your all, we win!"
Ma attributed the victory to the policies his team has made to fight corruption and maintain peace.
Taiwan people showed their recognition of the efforts KMT has made to shelf disputes with the mainland and maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait, he said at the gathering.
Ma promised to continue to deepen the cross-Strait relations, consolidate the mutual trust across the Strait in the coming four years.
He also believed that the cross-Strait relations "will become more harmonious."
"Many people have had higher expectation on us," Ma said, "They hope that, except taking care of the disadvantaged, we could pay more attention to the fairness in distribution, as well as the employment for the youth."
The 61-year-old Ma defeated rivals Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong in a three-way race. Ma led Tsai by about 800,000 votes in the poll.
Ma and his running mate Wu Den-yih, who is incumbent chief of the island's executive authority, got more than 6.89 million ballots, or 51.6 percent of the votes, whereas Tsai and her running mate Su Jia-chyuan, got more than 6.09 million ballots, or 45.6 percent of the votes.
PFP chairman James Soong and his running mate Lin Ruey-shiung got more than 369,000 ballots, or 2.8 percent of the votes, according to the island's election organization.
