Ex-deputy leader of Taiwan Wu Den-yih leads in KMT leader election

Wu Den-yih, deputy leader of Taiwan from 2012 to 2016, is expected to be elected as the new chairperson of Kuomintang (KMT) on Saturday.

Wu has already picked up over 140,000 votes, according to local media, almost triple the 50,000 of closest rival and current chairperson Hung Hsiu-chu.

There are more than 470,000 members with voting rights, but turnout was expected to be 55-60 percent according to Mo Tien-hu, the party's secretary-general. On a turnout of 60 percent, a candidate would need around 140,000 votes to win the majority required.

The other candidates, all lagging far behind, are KMT vice chairman and former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin, former KMT vice chairman and Taiwan's health chief Chan Chi-shean, KMT legislator Pan Wei-kang and former general manager of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Han Kuo-yu.

(CGTN)