TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Friday (June 12) confirmed former Deputy Mayor Yang Ming-jou (楊明州) will serve as interim mayor of Kaohsiung City until citizens elect a new local government leader on Aug. 15.

Kuomintang (KMT) Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) lost the recall vote last Saturday, making it necessary to appoint an interim mayor. The new mayor, elected in August, will only serve for the remainder of Han’s term, until Dec. 25, 2022.

Yang, who is relatively unknown outside of Kaohsiung, is a civil engineer by training, and has been lauded as having contributed to flood prevention. He served as deputy mayor in a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration but continued in the capacity of advisor to Han’s KMT team, reaching 36 years of employment for the city, CNA reported.

He will be sworn in on Saturday (June 13) morning. The Cabinet said its choice of Yang was motivated by his professionalism and expressed the hope he would form a stabilizing influence on the city while overseeing preparations for the August by-election.