Taiwan's ruling party wins assembly polls

With 99 percent of the ballots counted, the Central Election Commission said the Democratic Progressive Party had won 42.5 percent of the vote, against 38.9 percent for the opposition Nationalist Party.

The DPP garnered 1.64 million votes, followed closely by the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) 1.5 million votes, according to the Central Election Commission, which reported a record low turnout.

The hardline pro-indepe-ndence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) collected 273,147 votes. KMT's ally the People First Party took 236,716.

A total of 12 political parties and alliances were vying for 300 seats in the National Assembly based on their share of the vote. This was the first time Taiwanese voters chose parties rather than candidates.

The elections are seen by political analysts as a litmus test of support for the island's independence-minded leaders, headed by President Chen Shui-bian, and for the opposition following recent visits to China by KMT and People First Party leaders.

The vote for the ad hoc National Assembly had developed into a test of strength for Chen's policies, following the visits to China of Nationalist chief Lien Chan, and James Soong, head of the People First Party.

That party garnered only 6.1 percent of the vote, coming in fourth behind the Taiwan Solidarity Union, a pro-independence party, whose spiritual godfather is former President Lee Teng-hui. The TSU won 7 percent of the vote.