Taiwan's newly-elected local govt chiefs sworn in

TAIPEI - ?Heads of 22 cities and counties were sworn in on Thursday after being elected in Taiwan's largest-ever local elections.

Among the 22 mayors and county executives, eight were re-elected to serve their second term of four years, including New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu who will run for the Kuomintang (KMT) chairmanship next January.

Newly-elected councilors of the 22 cities and counties were also sworn in Thursday.

In the Nov. 29 local elections, the ruling KMT won six county and city chief seats, while the opposition Democratic Progressive Party landed 13 seats, with the remaining three going to independent candidates.

The elections were the biggest in history in terms of candidates and open positions. It is the first time Taiwan residents elected officials for 11,130 local government and legislative positions simultaneously.