Ma to Register Tomorrow, Running Mate to Be Announced in June

Ma to Register Tomorrow, Running Mate to Be Announced in June

Source: Taipei newspapers   April 22, 2011

The 2012 Presidential election will be held on January 14, 2012. It is reported that the KMT will hold its party national congress in June to formally nominate the KMT Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.   

Tomorrow, President Ma Ying-jeou, accompanied by KMT youth representatives, will go to the KMT party central to register his candidacy in the KMT Presidential primary. Because there is only one candidate, the KMT Central Standing Committee is slated to nominate Ma Ying-jeou as formal KMT Presidential candidate on May 4. The KMT National Congress will be held on June 25 to confirm Ma’s nomination.       

The media speculated that the KMT was most likely to form a Ma/Wu (Premier Wu Den-yih) ticket or a Ma/Siew (Vice President Vincent Siew) ticket in the 2012 Presidential election. A high-echelon KMT official said that President Ma was not in a rush to announce his running mate, nor would he announce his running mate on the same day that the KMT National Congress was held. “The announcement of President Ma’s running mate will not be made in a dramatic way. Things will become clear in June,” said the high-echelon KMT official.   

In a casual meeting with the media yesterday, President Ma said, “Because the KMT has not formally announced its Presidential candidate, the Vice Presidential candidate will not be announced until June when the KMT holds its National Congress.”   

The Central Election Commissioned (CEC) has decided in a full session that the 2011 legislative elections and the 2012 Presidential election would be combined. Yesterday, the CEC also decided that the combined elections will be held on January 14, 2012.

It is less than nine months before the 2012 Presidential election will be held. In order to consolidate his support among the grass roots, President Ma has made frequent visits to each county and countless townships.

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