The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) collected over NT$600.69 million (US$18.19 million) in political contributions in 2008, topping all of Taiwan's political parties in terms of fund-raising, the Control Yuan said Tuesday. The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) collected over NT$579 million in political donations in that year, the second-highest, according to the nation's top watchdog body. With its expenditure topping NT$623 million for the year in question, the DPP sustained a deficit of about NT$23 million, while the KMT sustained a deficit of over NT$72.26 million. On aggregate, the political donations collected by the DPP and the KMT constituted over 95 percent of all the political contributions made in the country in 2008, the tallies show. Minor parties, including the Taiwan Solidarity Union, the New Party and the People First Party, collected NT$21.4 million, NT$13.16 million and NT$10.53 million, in that order, in political donations last year. Six other minor parties, including the New Taiwan Hakka Party, collected no political donations whatsoever last year, according to the Control Yuan. 