Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) yesterday announced his resignation, saying that he was standing down to focus on his Taipei mayoral campaign ahead of the Nov. 26 election.
Chen, who on Wednesday was selected as the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, told a Cabinet news conference in Taipei that he had submitted his letter of resignation to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday morning.
Chen said that he would stay on as health minister until a successor is named, adding that he would also resign from his duties as head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Photo: CNA
Chen, who became health minister in 2017, rose to prominence as the face of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting the center’s daily news briefings.
The center had worked tirelessly to fight COVID-19 over the past two years, Chen said, adding that he was confident his replacement would lead the team with similar vigor.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that the Cabinet would announce Chen’s replacement as soon as a decision is made.
Anonymous Cabinet sources on Wednesday said that the government was expected to name Chen’s replacement in one week.
Chen, 68, was a dentist before being appointed deputy minister of the then-Department of Health in 2005.
He has never run for government office, but his central role in leading the nation’s COVID-19 response has transformed him into a hopeful to lead the capital.
Chen’s entry into the Taipei mayoral race has been heavily criticized by opposition parties such as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which said that Chen would be abandoning his post while the nation continues to deal with COVID-19.
In the mayoral race, Chen is to face KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), and possibly Deputy Taipei Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), who has yet to announce her election bid, as a candidate for the Taiwan People’s Party.
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