After
Mark Chen took office as
Tainan County Magistrate, Chen Zau-nan assumed Mark Chen's party list
Legislative Yuan seat in 1994. After completing Mark Chen's term in 1996, Chen Zau-nan was elected to a full term in his own right in 1998, via party list proportional representation. During his second stint as legislator, Chen also served on the
Democratic Progressive Party's Central Committee. In 2001, Chen and fellow legislator
Yang Chi-hsiung accused
James Soong and his family of embezzlement, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax evasion. Later that year,
Chang Chun-hung substantiated allegations of vote selling against Wang Hsien-tang, stating that he, Chen Zau-nan, and Liu Kun-li had witnessed Wang planning prior the Democratic Progressive Party
legislative primaries. Chen lost the party primary for a position on the Democratic Progressive Party list, and was instead named the Democratic Progressive candidate for the
Kinmen County Magistracy in the
2001–02 Taiwanese local elections. This was the first time that DPP had named a magisterial candidate for a county dominated by
New Party supporters. He lost to New Party candidate
Lee Chu-feng. ==Political relationships and views==