The KMT ticket received a larger percentage and more votes than any other candidate in the previous three direct presidential elections. The election occurred as incumbent President Chen Shui-bian's popularity remained at record lows following mass rallies in September 2006 urging him to resign amid implications of corruption. Amid general economic malaise, as unemployment had risen under Chen's presidency and Taiwan's per capita GDP was surpassed by that of South Korea, Ma won on a platform of economic revitalization and a promise to improve cross-straits relations, in contrast to Chen's confrontational style, as "a peacemaker not a troublemaker".[6] The election occurred in the wake of the KMT's landslide victory in the 2008 legislative elections in which the Pan-Blue Coalition won a three-quarters majority in the Legislative Yuan. On the same day two referendums on joining the United Nations, the first supported by the DPP of President Chen and the second supported by the KMT, failed due to low turnout. Prior to the vote, the KMT had encouraged its supporters to boycott the DPP referendum, and expressed its "understanding" if supporters boycotted both.
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