Saturday's election victory for the pan-blue alliance was particularly sweet for legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng.
The popular Kuomintang vice-chairman survived the biggest challenge of his political life.
A victory by the pan-green alliance would have come as a severe blow to the lawmaker because he would have lost not only his position as Speaker, but also his influence within his party.
Instead, he is now seen as one of the top contenders as KMT chairman and the island's next president, along with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou.
'A loss by the pan-blues would have resulted in the complete marginalisation of Wang, but now he is a real frontrunner,' said one Taiwanese political analyst.
The rival Democratic Progressive Party had made Mr Wang one of its main targets in its quests to seize power in the legislature, accusing him of being the protector of the KMT's questionable assets.
