The 2005 Kuomintang chairmanship election () was held on July 16, 2005 in Taiwan between Ma Ying-jeou and Wang Jin-pyng. The election was triggered by the retirement of chairman Lien Chan. This was the second direct election of the chairman in Kuomintang history. All registered, due-paying KMT party members were eligible to vote. Previous leaders of the KMT had been elected by the party congress in a one-man race (with the candidate being either the incumbent or his designated successor). Lien ran unopposed in 2001, but his election was decided by rank and file party members. Lien retired without naming a successor, choosing to retain a direct election for the office of chairman. The election was widely seen as a preliminary contest for the party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election. Ma's landslide victory over Wang originally made him the frontrunner in the bid for the KMT presidential nomination. An indictment over corruption in 2007 damaged Ma's election hopes, but he eventually ended up winning the 2008 presidential election. The following KMT chairmanship election occurred in 2007. Candidates The election was less about specific issues and more about personality. Both candidates supported a conciliatory approach toward relations with the People's Republic of China and supported the party's opposition to Taiwan independence and support of the 1992 consensus. They both promised to reform the party to make it more democratic and crack down on black gold. Ma's supporters argued that being younger and more charismatic, he would provide the party with a more youthful, clean, and open image which would be useful for the party in the 2008 legislative elections and the 2008 presidential elections. Wang's supporters cited his experience as speaker of the Legislative Yuan and his support among party leaders as vital in uniting the pan-Blue Coalition. Ma Ying-jeou ran in the election while serving as the mayor of Taipei City and a vice chairman of the KMT. His efforts at cracking down on black gold during his tenure as Justice Minister in the 1990s earned him a reputation of incorruptibility, especially because he was fired from this post for alienating the political underground, and his political career was considered to be over. His clean and competent public image and personal charisma has made him a widely popular politician, especially among female and younger voters. However, his critics claim that he, unlike his opponent, lacks friends among the KMT's