TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng (張善政) announced on Tuesday (May 14) that he will attend the upcoming presidential inauguration on May 20.

Chang did not plan to attend the inauguration due to a city council question-and-answer session scheduled for the same day. Chang said that after receiving an invitation from the Presidential Office, he discussed the matter with Taoyuan City Council Speaker Chiu Yi-sheng (邱奕勝), per UDN.

Four members of the Taoyuan City Council had registered to participate in a question-and-answer session with the mayor. After coordination with Chiu, three city councilors approved his request for leave, allowing the deputy mayor to fill in for Chang. One Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilor, however, suggested the session be rescheduled.

Chang said that as a result of communication with city councilors, he is now free to attend the inauguration and will do so in a spirit of bipartisanship and goodwill for President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德). He also hoped his presence would allow Taoyuan to seek more construction funding from the central government.

Chang said the recent earthquake in Hualien also inspired his desire to attend the inauguration, as those trapped under rubble from the earthquake “wouldn’t think about whether they voted for the DPP or the KMT.” He added that family members of victims also would not think about partisan politics during times of disaster.

Chang added that when he served as premier, Lai was the Tainan mayor, and the two had many good interactions such as fighting dengue fever and even the Tainan earthquake. Chang feels more bipartisanship is now needed amongst municipal leaders, as he plans to congratulate the new president on behalf of the people of Taoyuan.