Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou said Friday in Taipei that he would resign the chairmanship of the Kuomintang Party if he is officially indicted for graft, Xinhua learned on Saturday.

Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Taiwan's Kuomintang Party and former mayor of Taipei, has been facing pressure since last August when he was accused of misusing a special monthly fund of 340,000 New Taiwan Dollars (10,300 U.S. dollars).

Ma vowed to resign from leadership of the Kuomintang Party if officially indicted, although he stressed he was confident that a graft investigation of him would yield nothing, saying the accusation is "politically motivated."

However, Ma said he would run for the Taiwan leadership election in 2008 whether he is indicted or not.

"A lot of people have placed their trust in me, and I will not fail them," Ma said.

A Kuomintang Party inspection committee started an investigation of Ma at his own request last November, and concluded on Friday that there was no evidence to suggest Ma was involved in graft.

The Ma probe came after Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's wife Wu Shu-chen and his aids were accused of embezzlement, forgery and perjury, involving 14.8 million New Taiwan dollars (448,500 U.S. dollars).

Wu Shu-chen was brought to trial on Dec. 15 last year, but passed out during the first session of her trial.

Wu has since missed five court hearings because of low blood pressure.

Source: Xinhua