Taiwan’s parliament elected its first-ever speaker from the mainland-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party on Monday after the DPP triumphed in elections last month.
Su Chia-chuan immediately relinquished his party titles after his election, as a first step towards parliamentary reform.
“This was the first transition of power at parliament. People will have high expectations of the new parliament. If we let them down, we will betray their mandate,” Su said.
The DPP won a crushing victory in parliamentary and presidential elections on January 16.
Its chairwoman, Tsai Ing-wen, will on May 20 become the island’s first woman president after voters turned their backs on closer mainland ties under the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party.
The DPP also won 68 out of the 113 parliamentary seats while the KMT’s total shrank from 64 to 35.
Su takes over as speaker from Wang Jin-pyng of the KMT, who held the post for 17 years.