Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕, center) / CNA file photo

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) The Kuomintang (KMT) candidate in the upcoming Taichung mayoral election Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) announced her resignation as a lawmaker from the national legislature Tuesday, as a way of demonstrating her determination to win the race on Nov. 24.

Lu is the fourth lawmaker to resign and focus on the local government elections, following Yao Wen-chih (姚文智), Taipei mayoral candidate from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); KMT candidate Chang Li-shan (張麗善) running in the Yunlin County Magistrate election; and DPP Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁).

Calling the election a must-win race, Lu said she has promised she will free Taichung from air pollution, low wages and economic stagnation if elected.

"It's a very big responsibility," she said, "I must win."

Although the posts from which Chang and Chen resigned were for legislators-at-large, candidates for which are chosen by their parties, the legislative seats left vacant by Yao and Lu must be filled through by-elections based on the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act, because there is more than a year before their terms are officially completed on Jan. 31, 2020.

Under the act, legislative by-elections must be held within three months of a lawmaker resigning.

(By Su Mu-chun, Hao Hsueh-chin and Elizabeth Hsu)
Enditem/AW