Senior DPP lawmaker Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏), a likely candidate for Examination Yuan president, yesterday threw his weight behind fellow lawmaker Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) for the post.
Chang denied interest in the job and said that, if he were awarded the job, he fears he would be criticized for his involvement in an extramarital relationship.
The four-term lawmaker painted his marred marriage as a "tragic" product of history and expressed his desire to dodge any role that may subject his private life to public scrutiny.
"I would give Yao my whole-hearted support to head the Examination Yuan," Chang told reporters during an afternoon news conference. "I'm not interested in the position."
Sources close to President Chen Shui-bian (
It is up to the president to name the candidate, who must then be confirmed by the legislature before taking office. Chen is expected to announce his choice later this month.
Chang, who was jailed for eight years for taking part in an anti-government movement in the 1980s, allegedly asked the president to drop him from the list of potential candidates.
He said the imprisonment deeply wounded his relationship with his lawmaker wife, Hsu Jung-shu (
Chang, 64, who has been separated from Hsu for years, admitted to seeing a girlfriend, surnamed Lin.
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