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 Ma's landslide victory over Wang originally made him the frontrunner in the bid for the KMT presidential nomination.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 political elite and has little experience in forging political alliances. In addition, his opponents claim that Ma's background as a Mainlander (he was born in Hong Kong to Hunanese parents) may become a problem when he runs for president (in the 2004 presidential election President Chen Shui-bian questioned his mainland-born opponents' loyalty towards Taiwan and questioned whether they would "sell Taiwan out" to the PRC). In response, his supporters cite polls that indicate that Ma is popular among all ethnicities and regions in Taiwan, and that substantial numbers of DPP supporters have indicated in polls that they would vote for him.
Wang Jin-pyng, also a vice chairman of the KMT, though less popular and charismatic than his opponent, has gained the reputation of being a shrewd and capable politician. He has served in the Legislative Yuan since 1976 and as the President of the Legislative Yuan since 1999. As President of the Legislative Yuan, he was seen as being a conciliatory leader, avoiding the heated rhetoric to reach across the political divide.