Su Tseng-chang, former chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, replaced Frank Hsieh on Thursday as new "premier" of the Executive Yuan, according to media reports from Taiwan.

Su, born in July 1947 in Taiwan, will be the fifth "premier" since Taiwan's "president" Chen Shui-bian was elected in 2000.

Su, who was elected DPP chairman in January 2005, resigned last month to take responsibility for the party's poor performance in municipal elections. At that time, the DPP lost the polls to the opposition Kuomintang party amid a series of corruption scandals.

He served as magistrate of southern Pingtung County in 1989 and magistrate of Taipei County in 1997.

On Tuesday, Frank Hsieh announced his resignation to end his less-than-one-year "premiership."

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2006)