TPP's Huang to continue chair duties while running for New Taipei mayor

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucus whip and New Taipei mayoral candidate Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said Friday that after resigning as a legislator, he will continue attending the party's morning caucus meetings as party chairman.

Huang said his campaign headquarters will be established on Feb. 1 and confirmed that media personality and former Kuomintang vice presidential candidate Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康) will attend the launch.

To implement the TPP's "two-year clause," Huang and five other at-large legislators will step down Feb. 1.

The rule, proposed by former TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), requires at-large lawmakers to resign halfway through their four-year terms, with their seats filled by the next candidates on the party list.

Speaking at a TPP caucus news conference Friday, Huang said he plans to attend morning caucus meetings at the Legislative Yuan every Tuesday and Friday, as well as Thursday consensus meetings, whenever his schedule permits.

Huang said he has not stepped down as party chairman and will continue to carry out his responsibilities.

While the central headquarters does not have a chairman's office, he said his preferred working style is to convene staff from different departments in meeting rooms to clarify to-do tasks.

He said campaigning for New Taipei mayor will be his third focus, adding that he will devote substantial time to election preparations.

Huang also said his Monday night livestreams will continue. "They will only increase, never decrease," he said.

Noting that legislators are barred from practicing law, Huang said that after stepping down and receiving his separation certificate from the Legislative Yuan, he plans to re-register as a lawyer and "put on the robe when needed."

Separately, TPP member Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀), also a Chinese spouse, is set to assume a legislative seat in February.

Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said Wednesday that Li must renounce her Chinese nationality within one year of taking office, adding that while giving up mainland household registration is relatively easy, no one has yet completed the process.

Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said Article 20 of the Nationality Act is clear and that Chinese authorities already have certificates of renunciation on their websites, allowing applications to proceed.

Huang said the TPP caucus would handle the matter in accordance with the law but stressed that Taiwan is a democratic, law-based society and that the authority to interpret the law does not rest solely with the executive branch.