The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus today elected Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to replace Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) as caucus whip.
As it does at the beginning of each legislative session, the DPP caucus convened to elect its new leaders.
The lawmakers elected Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) to serve as caucus chief executive and Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) as secretary-general.
Photo courtesy of the Democratic Progressive Party caucus
The party saw a rare competition in the election of caucus whip, as Ker has held the position for 25 years.
Ker had previously indicated that he plans to leave the legislature at the end of his current term.
Under DPP rules, the party's caucus whip serves a one-year term and may seek re-election, while lawmakers who have served at least three terms are eligible to run.
Tsai is currently serving his fifth term as a legislator.
Ker yesterday invited Tsai, a former deputy legislative speaker, to meet for negotiations.
The meeting was attended by the party’s outgoing secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) and caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱), while Fan, who was running unopposed, was also invited to join.
Ker and Tsai failed to reach a clear consensus during the meeting in which both expressed willingness to run, people familiar with the matter said.
Tsai, the Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner, previously served as the second deputy speaker in Taiwan's history from outside the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after Chung Jung-chi (鍾榮吉) of the People First Party.
Tsai is also the first DPP member to step down from the deputy speakership and return to serving solely as a rank-and-file legislator.
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