Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang was roundly defeated in by-elections yesterday, spelling fresh electoral woes for President Ma Ying-Jeou . The pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won all three legislative seats in Taoyuan, Taitung and Taichung counties. Although the KMT retains control of the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, the results put the DPP in a position of renewed strength. With 30 seats, the party has now passed the critical one-quarter mark required to table motions to recall the president or revise the constitution. The KMT has 73 seats. In Taoyuan county, in the north of the island, Kuo Rung-tsung romped home with 58 per cent of the vote and a lead of over 16,600. His colleague in the western city of Taichung, Chien Chao-tung, also won easily with a 55 per cent share and a lead of 11,500 votes. The closest result was in Taitung, in the east, where Lai Kun-cheng took just under half the vote, but this was still 2,000 votes and four percentage points clear of the KMT candidate. Turnout was low - just 38.4 per cent in Taoyuan, 39.4 per cent in Taitung and 45.1 per cent in Taichung. The by-elections follow an embarrassing defeat for the KMT in island-wide local elections last month and set up the two parties for another clash next month, and key local elections at the end of the year. All three seats had previously been held by KMT legislators - one of whom won a position in last month's local elections while the other two had been convicted of voting fraud. DPP secretary general Su Jia-chyuan ruled out an immediate attempt to unseat Ma. Speaking after a meeting with DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, Su told the Central News Agency the party felt the election result was 'encouragement, not a victory'. KMT party whip Lu Hsueh-chang blamed an 'unfavourable environment' and poor selection of candidates. He said the party should have picked a Hakka candidate in Taoyuan, as the ethnic group makes up 75 per cent of the electorate. The Taitung election was held to replace Justin Huang, who was elected as a county magistrate in last month's local elections. The seats in Taichung and Taoyuan were up for grabs after KMT legislators Chiang Lien-fu and Liao Cheng-ching were convicted of vote-buying in the 2008 election. Four more seats will be contested in by-elections on February 27 in the counties of Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien and a second district of Taoyuan. The DPP is expected to pick up at least one of those seats as Chiayi is a traditional stronghold for the party. Even if the KMT gets through relatively unscathed, Ma will face a fresh test of his leadership when municipal elections are held in December. The key posts of Taipei and Kaohsiung mayor are up for grabs then in polls generally viewed as a litmus test for the 2012 presidential election. Rising force The opposition DPP will now have a bigger say in the Legislative Yuan The number of seats the party holds after yesterday's success: 30