NewHow a softly-spoken bureaucrat rose to be one step away from becoming Taiwan’s first woman president

Tsai Ing-wen, the woman who this weekend will probably become the first woman president of Taiwan, only joined the opposition Democratic Progressive Party 11 years ago.

Her likely elevation to the top job on the island will probably signal the swiftest rise of any politician in Taiwan’s democratic history. Only 16 years ago she was still a bureaucrat handling cross strait relations with little to do with the party.

READ MORE: Stakes high for Taiwan’s hard-won democracy as island tipped to throw out ruling party and elect first woman president

Tsai’s success as a politician within such a short time has surprised many. Born into a well-to-do family in Taipei, the 59-year-old softly-spoken but highly determined Tsai only delved into the world of politics after she was named by former president Chen Shui-bian as head of the island’s Mainland Affairs Council in 2000. She wasn’t even a DPP member at the time.

Four years later Tsai became one of the party’s candidate in the 2004 parliamentary polls and was elected.

Tsai, who taught law in Taiwan after studying for higher degrees in the US and Britain, then rose rapidly through the party ranks to become a vice premier by 2006.

The DPP’s period in power, however, was to come to an abrupt end with its failure in presidential polls in 2008 and Chen’s conviction on corruption charges.