Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) The first elections since the Kuomintang (KMT) took power in May 2008 will be significant in that they are expected to serve as a litmus test of the ruling party’s performance over the past 10 months, KMT sources said Friday.

The two legislative by-elections will be held in Miaoli County March 14, and in Taipei City’s Daan district March 28.

Former KMT Legislator Lu E-jin from Miaoli County lost his seat in the legislature after the Taichung High Court rejected in December his appeal against a Miaoli District Court ruling that annulled his election on vote-buying charges in the 2008 legislative elections.

Another former KMT lawmaker, Lee Ching-an, resigned early this month, citing a dispute over her alleged dual citizenship.

The KMT has nominated Lu’s wife Chen Ruan-ying to run in the Miaoli by-election, while seven KMT hopefuls will vie in a party primary to represent the KMT in Daan district.

According to a high-ranking KMT official, if the KMT wins the two by-elections, it will mean that its support base is solid, but if the result is the opposite, then the party will “have to learn about its deficiencies and address them accordingly.”

“In other words, the party will be able to assess the year-end mayoral and magistrate election outcome by observing the results of the by-elections,” the official said.

KMT Legislator Hsu Chung-hsiung said the two by-elections will be “a judgment by the voters on the KMT’s performance over the past 10 months.”

Hsu noted that the party won overwhelmingly in the two districts in January 2008 elections and said that if the party’s votes in the by-elections are not as good as last year’s, “we will have to reflect upon ourselves.”

Lee Chin-sung, director of the KMT’s Miaoli chapter, said voters are more interested in the slumping economy and have shown little enthusiasm about the by-elections.

Lee noted, however, that Miaoli Magistrate Liu Cheng-hung has a high approval rating and that as he is serving as the campaign manager of Chen Ruan-ying, it should provide her with a boost.

Pan Chia-shen, director of the KMT’s Taipei chapter, said the party will follow a nomination mechanism based on public opinion polls (70 percent) and party member votes (30 percent) to decide on its nominee.

As Lee Ching-an beat her rival, Luo Wen-jia of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, 66.8 percent to 32.46 percent last year, Pan said optimistically that he is sure support for the KMT will still be strong, even though the approval rating of the KMT administration as a whole has taken a major hit from the slumping economy. (By Lilian Wu)