chuang resigned from his post after experiencing fallout from the public and media when he made provocative comments at a rally in taichung on 16 march 2008, about the kmt's then-presidential candidate ma ying-jeou and accusations that ma's father ma ho-ling had had affairs with various women. this drew the wrath of the taiwanese public. with the 2008 presidential elections days away, democratic progressive party officials, including presidential candidate frank hsieh and minister tu cheng-sheng, publicly apologized for chuang's remarks to limit the damage.