Former Kuomintang (KMT) party chairman Ma Ying-jeou (2nd R) bows with party officials during the Taiwan "legislature" elections at the KMT headquarters in Taipei January 12, 2008. [Photo: taihainet.com]

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                Ballot Counting Starts in Taiwan "Legislator" Election

Kuomintang (KMT) won 81 of the 113 seats in Taiwan's "legislature" elections Saturday, scoring a landslide victory over the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which got 27 seats.

Two seats went to the New Party. The People First Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and a candidate without party affiliation each took one seat, according to the ballot counting authority.

Chen Shui-bian announced later in the evening that he resigned his post as DPP chairman due to the party's failure in the election.

Two referendums tied to the election, one against corruption and the other demanding the KMT to return what was said to be assets illegally obtained from the people were announced invalid, as the voters' turnout rate did not reach 50 percent.

Nearly 300 candidates are competing for the legislative seats in more than 70 precincts across the island.

Voters cast two ballots for the first time in the election history -- one for a specific "legislator" candidate in their precinct and the other for the party of their choice. Some "legislators" will be chosen by the parties in accordance with the percentage of votes they got.

Taiwan's "legislature", called "legislative Yuan," has been streamlined from 225 seats to 113 in an effort to improve efficiency.