TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) officially registered as a candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chair election on Wednesday (Dec.14).
However, as he was diagnosed with COVID last week, former Culture Minister Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) registered on his behalf at 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, according to his Facebook page. Lai's office stated that although a rapid antigen test taken that day came back negative, as a precaution during his self-heath monitoring period, he decided to entrust Cheng to register on his behalf.
After the DDP's drubbing during the "9-in-1" local elections on Nov. 26, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) stepped down as party chair to take responsibility for the defeat. Registrations for candidacies for the position are being taken from Dec. 12-16 and the party will vote on the new head on Jan. 15, 2023, and the winning candidate's term will run until May 20, 2024.
On Dec. 8, Lai called Tsai to inform her of his plan to run for party chair. Tsai responded by expressing her best wishes for his candidacy.
On his Facebook page, Lai announced four goals he hopes to accomplish if he is able to serve as party chair, including the following:
- Regrouping and stabilizing the political situation
- Holding an in-depth review to win back the trust of the people
- Recruiting talent and leading innovation and progress
- Protect Taiwan and promote democracy, peace, and prosperity
