TAIPEI - Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou stepped down as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party on Wednesday.

Ma made the announcement at the meeting of the party's Central Standing Committee.

According to the party charter, the island's deputy leader Wu Den-yih, who ranks first among the KMT's seven vice chairpersons, will serve as the acting chairman.

Hung Hsiu-chu, who ranks third among the vice chairpersons, will serve as the acting KMT Secretary-General, replacing Tseng Yung-chuan who resigned on Saturday.

Ma urged the acting chairman to hold a chairmanship election as soon as possible in a bid to lead the whole party to pull together.

He said the KMT can no longer afford to pay the price of being demoralized or rattled at this time, hoping the public could give the party another chance.