TAIPEI, April 15 -- The Taiwan opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday endorsed the candidacy of its chair Tsai Ing-wen in the 2016 election.

It is the second time Tsai has sought the leadership of Taiwan. She lost to incumbent Ma Ying-jeou in 2012.

Also on Wednesday, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) started its nomination process for the 2016 election. The KMT nominee could be endorsed as late as mid July this year.

Currently, Hung Hsiu-chu, deputy head of the island's legislature, is the only KMT member who has publicly announced the bid, while other leadership candidate hopefuls, including KMT chairman Eric Chu and the island's top legislator Wang Jin-pying, remained tight-lipped.