Tsai elected as new DPP head

"It certainly isn't an honor to win the election with many ghost members voting," the vice president said.

On the other hand, Chen Chu, mayor of Kaohsiung, issued a statement congratulating Tsai for her election, declaring it as the beginning of the party's much-awaited reform.

"Her victory," Chen said, "is one for a new generation with cross-factional support. We expect the new chair will improve all the defects found in the past eight years and start a party overhaul fairly and squarely."

What is needed is a new unity of purpose, said the mayor of Kaohsiung, who is now the party's highest public office holder.

Two more elections were held at the same time.

DPP members went to the polls to elect 23 city and county chapter chiefs and 368 delegates to a national party congress scheduled for July.

No exact dates have been fixed for the national congress, where 30 members of the party's executive council will be elected. Ten of them will then be elected to the DPP's powerful central standing committee.

Frank Hsieh will step down as acting chairman of the party next Monday. Tsai takes over and will preside over the July party congress, where leaders of the old guard, including President Chen Shui-bian and his former premier Su Tseng-chang, are fielding their proxies for the executive council.

Su ran for vice president on Hsieh's ticket. Chen wants to remain a power behind the scenes after he steps down tomorrow.

The first task facing Tsai is how to get a well-balanced executive council elected in the party's forthcoming national congress. 

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