Premier Frank Hsieh (
"He is of Aboriginal descent and has constantly devoted himself to Aboriginal issues when he was a lawmaker. He is a perfect person for the post," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said that the resignation of the current Chairman Chen Chien-nien (陳建年) will take effect on March 10.
Indicted
Chen tendered his resignation after being indicted on Feb. 24 for allegedly buying votes for his daughter Chen Ying (陳瑩).
Chen Ying won her first legislative campaign last December and is now a Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
"Although he was indicted, it does not mean he is guilty. He resigned to protect the image of the Cabinet. For that, I really want to thank him," Hsieh said.
Local Chinese-language morning papers predicted yesterday that Walis would succeed Chen Chien-nien.
"Chen is leaving us. To avoid endless guessing, I decided to make the announcement today," Hsieh said.
Background
Walis was born in Nantou County on Aug. 8, 1952. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Catholic Fu-jen University and graduated from Fu-jen's missionary school in 1979.
He began his political career in 1986, when he was first elected as a Nantou County councilor.
He was elected to the legislature in 1993 and had stayed there until January.
However, he failed to be re-elected last December.
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