Taiwan's Ruling Party Chairman Resigns

The DPP's Frank Hsieh was overwhelmed Saturday in the island's fourth direct presidential election, with Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalists winning by 17 percentage points.

"I represented the Democratic Progressive Party to run in the 2008 presidential election, but I failed to complete the mission," Hsieh said at the party's central standing committee meeting. "I hereby am resigning the chairmanship."

Hsieh's defeat and the Nationalists' decisive victory in January's legislative elections leaves the DPP bruised and battered after eight years in power.

It now stands at a crossroads, having to decide between its pro-independence ideology and an alternative program that might find more appeal among Taiwan's 17 million voters.

During his last two years in office, outgoing President Chen Shui-bian emphasized the independence track, angering rival China which claims the island as part of its territory and causing grave concern in the United States, Taiwan's most important foreign backer.

Some outside analysts have suggested the DPP's best course is to reconstitute itself as a social democratic party, with worker's rights at the top of its agenda.

But this could be a hard sell, as Hsieh's most likely successors including former Chairman You Shyi-kun and former Premier Su Tseng-chang are believed to be wedded to the independence platform.