The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday formally nominated former deputy minister of justice Huang Shih-chieh (黃世杰) and former legislator Chuang Ching-cheng (莊競程) to run for mayor in Taoyuan and Hsinchu respectively.
The nominations, approved by the party’s Central Executive Committee, finalize the party’s candidates for two key battleground cities. Huang would challenge incumbent Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang (張善政) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), while Chuang would face Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), who is seeking re-election.
Kao returned to office late last year after being acquitted of corruption charges. She was suspended from her post and from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in July 2024 after being indicted in a corruption case dating back to her time as a legislator, and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison in a first-instance ruling before the acquittal.
Photo : Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Huang, a legal academic by training, holds a master of laws degree from Columbia University, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in law and sociology from National Taiwan University. He has served as a legislator and as deputy minister of justice.
Earlier in his career, Huang joined the Taoyuan City Government during its transition to a special municipality, where he helped streamline about 1,500 regulations and provided legal support across departments, President William Lai (賴清德), who also serves as DPP chairman, said at the committee meeting.
Huang was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 2020, where his work focused on legal affairs and local infrastructure development, particularly in Taoyuan, Lai said.
Chuang has a background in biomedical engineering and academia. He earned a doctorate in biomedical engineering from National Taiwan University and has served as an assistant professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Lai said.
Chuang previously served as a legislator and as executive director of the Executive Yuan’s Central Taiwan Joint Services Center. During his legislative tenure, Chuang took part in advancing laws related to regenerative medicine, including regulations governing regenerative treatments and products, Lai said.
Separately, the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday announced that Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) of the TPP would fill a vacant legislator-at-large seat following the removal of Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀).
Li was expelled from the TPP on Monday and subsequently lost her legislative seat.
Hsu would serve the remainder of the current term of the 11th Legislative Yuan, the CEC said.
The current legislature runs from Feb. 1, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2028.
The commission said it yesterday morning received official notice of Li’s removal from the Legislative Yuan and determined her replacement in accordance with the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
Hsu previously served as a legislator-at-large from 2012 to 2014 as a member of the Taiwan Solidarity Union, now known as the Taiwan Solidarity Party.
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