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The Kuomintang
 The KMT, or Nationalist Party, is the second largest party in the Legislative Yuan. Founded on November 24, 1894 by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the KMT had won almost every major election until it lost for the first time to the Democratic Progressive Party in the 1997 election for county magistrates and city mayors. The KMT also encountered successive defeats at the 2001 Legislative Yuan election, as well as the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. As a result of its defeat in the 2000 presidential election, the KMT initiated a major reorganization, including re-registration of all its members.
At the grassroots level, KMT members are organized into cells. Moving upward, there are district, county, and city congresses and committees. The highest level is the National Congress 全國代表大會, the highest authority of the party, and the Central Committee 中央委員會. The congress amends the party charter, determines the party platform and other important policies, elects the party chairman and Central Committee members, and approves candidates nominated by the chairman to serve as vice chairmen and members of the Central Advisory Council 中央評議委員會. When the National Congress is in recess, the supreme party organization is the Central Committee, which holds a plenary session every year.
The Central Standing Committee 中央常務委員會, which represents the Central Committee when it is not in session, serves as the most influential organization in the KMT. It meets every week to discuss and approve important policies and nominate candidates for important positions, with its secretary-general managing the KMT's general party affairs. Lower level party organizations also have their own secretariats and administrative staffs.
After the KMT lost the presidential election in March 2000, Lee Teng-hui resigned as party chairman, whereupon Lien Chan 連戰 succeeded him. The 16th National Congress convened in September 2003 and ratified Lien Chan's alliance with his People First Party counterpart James Soong 宋楚瑜 in a joint bid for the 2004 presidential election. On May 19, 2004, following the loss of the Lien-Soong joint bid for the presidency, the KMT Central Standing Committee unanimously approved Chairman Lien Chan's proposal to push for a merger with the PFP in an attempt to better compete with the DPP in future elections.
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