The Central Election Commission decided yesterday to hold the “three in one” elections of county chiefs and mayors, county and city council members, and township mayors on Saturday, Dec. 5.

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou is urging Chinese President Hu Jintao to seize the opportunity that presents itself to usher in a detente between Taipei and Beijing, according to Newsweek.

Lee Ying-yuan, secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), will start meeting with his predecessors today to discuss its rehabilitation from the presidential election fiasco on March 22.

Defeated presidential candidate Frank Hsieh yesterday played down a newspaper report which claimed his decision to stay on as chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party caught President Chen Shui-bian and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung off guard.

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou has asked his aides to limit spending on his presidential inauguration ceremony and avoid waste, Ma’s spokesman Lo Chih chiang said late Thursday.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday officially proclaimed opposition Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou and his running mate, Vincent Siew, as the winners in the March 22 presidential poll.

Reactions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) members to KMT President-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s sweeping victory in last Saturday’s election have varied, from overjoyed to deep sorrow, with some members of the DPP falling mysteriously ill and sick KMT members recovering.

Frank Hsieh yesterday tendered his resignation as chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to take responsibility for his defeat in the presidential election.

A former education official yesterday reiterated that he regretted having used vulgar language to attack the father of Kuomintang presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou.

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou is unlikely to bring the island close to Beijing any time soon as China’s communist party does not trust him, former leader Lee Teng-hui said.