A recall vote against New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) was defeated yesterday after the number of ballots cast by Huang’s detractors in New Taipei City’s 12th electoral district failed to pass the threshold for removing him as lawmaker.
Statistics released by the New Taipei City Election Commission showed that 48,693 constituents voted in favor of recalling Huang, while less than half that number — 21,748 — voted against it, and 483 cast null votes, with a voter turnout of 27.75 percent.
Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), one-fourth of the 255,551 constituents in the electoral district — in this case comprised of Sijhih (汐止), Jinshan (金山), Wanli (萬里), Rueifang (瑞芳), Pingsi (平溪), Shuangsi (雙溪) and Gongliao (貢寮) districts — must vote for the recall of a legislator, and the number of people who vote “yes” must surpass the number of people who vote “no.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Huang’s detractors needed to cast at least 63,888 “yes” votes.
Asked to respond to comments from the Greater Taipei Stability Power Alliance that he was a “politician who survived thanks to the rain,” Huang said that he would listen with humility to all criticism.
Huang held a news conference at his Sijhih headquarters shortly after all 240 polling stations closed to thank everyone who voted “no” for keeping faith in the NPP’s vision of reform and pursuit of progressive values.
He also thanked those who voted “yes,” saying that it gave him motivation for introspection, adding that he would continue to welcome their criticism and supervision.
Although the recall failed, Huang said the large number of votes to recall him indicated that he had not worked hard enough to encourage his supporters to vote.
“I understand how you must feel right now, but I want to tell you that the vision of reform and progressive values we hold are right,” he said.
“What is the kind of future we want? We must take this question seriously. Is this a nation teeming with hope, ideals and progressive values, or is it a place where people must continue to live in darkness and fear?” he said.
He would continue to support removing the threshold for recalling public officers as he did last year, Huang said.
“The NPP will never change its stance on realizing direct democracy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Stability Power Alliance chairman Sun Chi-cheng (孫繼正), who initiated the vote, attributed the failure to his lack of hard work and apologized to the alliance’s supporters for his failure to “translate mainstream opinion.”
The recall drive was a “caution” to all lawmakers that they would be ousted if they refuse to communicate with voters, Sun said, adding that from that point of view the drive could be deemed successful.
Unite for a Good Lawmaker founder Yu Chung-cheng (余忠正) said he was not surprised by the outcome of the poll, as Sun has been maneuvering for more than a year, while the Huang camp only started raising awareness about the recall after it passed the initiation threshold in May.
However, he said that Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 handed down by the Council of Grand Justices in May declared that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right and that the large number of people who voted to depose Huang over his support for legalizing same-sex marriage suggested that Taiwanese still have a long way to go before they can truly embrace progressive values.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS