‘Troublemaker’ William Lai Ching-te to take oath as Taiwan’s new president
Al Jazeera
Lai’s election victory gave an unprecedented third presidential term to the DPP, but his room for manoeuvre is likely to be limited.
Taipei, Taiwan – William Lai Ching-te will be sworn in on Monday as Taiwan’s sixth democratically-elected president, a role where he is expected to continue steering Taiwan in the same direction as set by his predecessor Tsai Ing-Wen.
Lai’s victory at the polls in January marked a narrow but unprecedented win for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Since Taiwan transitioned to democracy in 1996, the DPP and its more Beijing-friendly rival the Kuomintang (KMT) have switched power every eight years, but Lai’s victory broke with that tradition as the DPP won a third term in office.
Tsai’s vice president, Lai will have big shoes to fill.
During her eight years in office, Tsai dramatically raised Taiwan’s profile abroad while treading a fine line around its disputed political status, lest it upset China or the United States.