Premier Jiang Yi-huah has announced his resignation. The decision came on Saturday following a major defeat for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) in the local elections.
The KMT lost the races for mayor in five of the nation’s six major municipalities. The party also only managed to win just five of the other 16 city and county chief positions up for grabs.
Jiang held a press conference at around 8:00 pm to announce his resignation.
“The election results show that people are not satisfied with the government’s policies and they have clearly made their voices heard through their votes," said Jiang.
"Therefore, I’ve decided to take political responsibility for this failure and step down from the premiership. I’ve tendered my resignation to President Ma tonight and received his approval. I believe that the president will decide on my replacement and complete a cabinet reshuffle soon to tackle the challenges the nation will face in the future.”