TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kuomintang lawmaker Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) came under fire Friday (Dec. 23) for postponing joining the new Taipei City Government team as vice mayor until February, thus avoiding the need for a by-election to fill her seat.

Taipei City Mayor-elect Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) was scheduled to take office Dec. 25, but if Lin resigned from the Legislative Yuan immediately, a by-election would be needed to replace her as her resignation would occur less than one year before the end of her term on Feb. 1, 2024.

A legislative by-election was already scheduled for Jan. 8 to replace Chiang, with the KMT nominating recently re-elected Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) as its candidate. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is backing Enoch Wu (吳怡農).

Lin, 54, defended her decision by saying there were two important pieces of legislation related to climate change and to smoking that she still needed to work on, the Liberty Times reported.

She served as a member of the Taipei City Council and as education department chief in Taipei City and New Taipei City. Chiang described her as experienced but said that since there was also still one other vice mayor, her absence until February 2023 was not crucial.

Critics accused Lin of putting her personal interests first, of leaving Taipei City without a second vice mayor for at least one month and one week, and the city’s Daan District without a legislator for one year.