Nationwide mass recall campaigns by civil society groups targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers continued last week, with the Central Election Commission (CEC) saying it had received 51 petitions to recall lawmakers as of Thursday last week. Most of the recall petitions target KMT lawmakers seen as “unfit” — passing controversial bills and slashing the government budget for unconvincing reasons — or are suspected of conspiring with the Chinese Communist Party to undermine Taiwan’s democracy and national security. In response, the KMT launched a “counterattack” to recall several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
A poll by Mirror News on Thursday last week showed that 46.4 percent of the public support the recall movements, slightly surpassing those who disagree; 55 percent are dissatisfied with KMT lawmakers’ performances, 31.6 percent are satisfied and 73.8 percent said they would cast their vote if the recall petitions go into the final voting — suggesting that the campaign is gaining momentum.
Several renowned public figures have also stepped in to lead recall campaigns, including 90-year-old Hakka writer Lee Chiao (李喬), who petitioned to recall KMT Legislator Chiu Chen-chun (邱鎮軍). United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) and musician Chu Yueh-hsin (朱約信) also became leaders of recalls for two KMT lawmakers in Taipei and New Taipei City.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday last week rejected the Cabinet’s proposal to reconsider an amendment to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) that tightens requirements for recall petitions. As the amended law is expected to take effect by the end of the month, the first phase of recall petition submissions is also expected to end and move to the second phase.
Amid heightened tensions, the KMT said it would focus on improving people’s livelihood in the new legislative session, but it failed to deliver the late budget to the Cabinet for approval, after it hastily passed third readings to cut it by more than NT$207.5 billion (US$6.33 billion) on Jan. 22. It is also aiming to push for another controversial bill — a national security strategy act — to take over the president’s authority over national security matters.
Throughout the civic groups’ recall movements, the KMT has not self-reflected nor listened to people’s concerns, but persisted in labeling them as part of the DPP’s “retaliatory power grab” and antagonizing them with more questionable actions, such as KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) joining China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in a Lunar New Year event in China’s Xiamen a day after the legislature slashed the government budget. Shortly after, she infuriated members of the cultural industry by implying they “beg for food” by receiving government funding.
However, some remarks and proposals by KMT lawmakers appear to indicate they are no longer unflappable and might be trying to stop the recall tide, including proposing to give out a universal cash payment of NT$10,000 to every citizen, a bill to suspend the phased-in reduction of civil servants’ and educators’ pension income replacement ratio, and a bill to restore seven days of paid leave for workers.
The KMT legislative caucus on Thursday last week also launched a campaign saying the DPP-led government would be spending an estimated NT$1.2 billion on recalls, and that the government would be using the second reserve fund, which should be for emergency disaster relief, for its “intra-party struggles” — disregarding the right of people to elect and recall, and reframing it as the DPP’s “vendetta” against the KMT.
Whether Taiwanese would accept the KMT’s claim is yet to be seen, but the recall “battle” is expected to heat up soon, as civic groups face a more challenging task of obtaining signatures exceeding 10 percent of their constituency’s voters in 60 days, while the KMT would certainly ramp up efforts to obstruct them.
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