Taiwan Premier Jiang Yi-huah attends a news conference to announce a cabinet reshuffle in Taipei.(Reuters)
Taiwan's premier announced his resignation on Saturday after the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party's trouncing in local elections.
Jiang Yi-huah, in a hastily called news conference, said his resignation had been accepted by President Ma Ying-Jeou.
The KMT lost its two strongholds of Taipei, the capital, and Taichung, in central Taiwan, in the election for mayors and councillors at the local level island-wide.
The race for the Taipei mayor's job had been widely interpreted as a test of confidence in Ma's China-friendly government.