William Lai 賴清德 | |
---|---|
Mayor-elect of Tainan | |
Assuming office December 25, 2010 | |
Succeeding | Hsu Tain-tsair |
Personal details | |
Born | Wanli, Taipei County, Taiwan | October 6, 1959
Political party | Template:DPP |
Alma mater | Harvard School of Public Health National Cheng Kung University National Taiwan University |
Profession | Medical doctor Politician |
Website | http://www.laichingte.net/ |
William Lai (Chinese: 賴清德; pinyin: Lài Qīngdé; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Loā Chheng-tek; also known as Lai Ching-te)[1] is the mayor-elect of Tainan, Taiwan. He is scheduled to take office in the newly created municipality, formed from the merger of Tainan City and Tainan County, on 25 December 2010. He has served as a legislator in the Legislative Yuan since the 1999 election.
Pre-political life
Born in Wanli, Taiwan, a rural coastal town in northern Taipei County on October 6 1959, Lai underwent schooling in Taipei City and studied at both National Cheng Kung University in Tainan and National Taiwan University in Taipei, where he specialized in rehabilitation.[1] Lai then studied at the Harvard School of Public Health for a Masters degree in public health,[1] followed by an internship at National Cheng Kung University Hospital. He became an expert on spinal cord damage and served as a national consultant for such injuries.[1]
National Assembly and Legislative Yuan
After serving as part of the support team for Chen Ding-nan's successful electoral bid in 1994,[2] Lai decided to enter politics himself. The next opportunity for election to a national body was the 1996 National Assembly, with Lai winning a seat representing Tainan City. Lai then stood as a candidate in the 1998 Legislative Yuan election, representing the Democratic Progressive Party in the second ward of Tainan City.[1] He was successful in this election, and subsequently was reelected three times; in 2001, 2004, and 2008. In total he served 11 years as a legislator, and was selected as Taiwan's "Best Legislator" four times in a row by Taipei-based NGO Citizen Congress Watch.[3]
2010 Tainan mayoral election
With the 2010 reorganization of the municipalities in Taiwan, Tainan City and Tainan County are to be amalgamated into Greater Tainan. After successfully being selected in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) primaries in January 2010,[4] Lai stood as the DPP candidate for the mayoral election on 27 November 2010, gaining 60.41% to defeat Kuomintang candidate Kuo Tien-tsai.[5] He is scheduled to take office on 25 December 2010, succeeding Hsu Tain-tsair, a fellow Democratic Progressive Party politician who was not eligible to stand because of term limits.[6]
Party | # | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
File:Green Taiwan in White Cross.svg Democratic Progressive Party | 2 | William Lai (賴清德) | 619,897 | 60.41% | ||
Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) | 1 | Kuo Tien-tsai (郭添財) | 406,196 | 39.59% | ||
Total | 1,026,093 | 100.00% |
References
- ^ a b c d e "賴清德" (in Chinese). Legislative Yuan.
- ^ 陳定南的牽手張昭義挺賴清德 (in Chinese), NOWnews
- ^ Lai keeps DPP's solid grip on Tainan, Central News Agency
- ^ "2009民進黨提名縣市長候選人連結" (in Chinese). Democratic Progressive Party. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
- ^ William Lai takes Tainan by storm, Taipei Times, 28 November 2010
- ^ 文化觀光科技府城新定位 許添財連任有信心 (in Chinese), Central News Agency