The mass recall movement marks a significant milestone in Taiwan’s history. The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Friday last week announced the results of its review into petitions to recall 24 lawmakers and one mayor, scheduling the vote for July 26.
The practice of using recall elections to oust politicians can be traced back more than 2,000 years to ancient Athens. The recall election serves as a mechanism to remove undesirable individuals, or those who violate societal rules and threaten civil order. The early form of recall election, inscribing the names of politicians on ostraca — the plural of ostracon, pottery sherds on which citizens inscribed names to vote for exile — as ballots, was meant to prevent politicians from abusing elected office.
The democratic practice of ostracism, which originated from the use of these ostraca, is a valuable export of Athenian democracy. Citizens would inscribe critical labels, such as “betrayer,” “traitor,” “slanderer,” or “main instigator” onto the ostraca. The sherds could also serve as historical records, avoiding the possibility of later revisionism by politicians. In Athenian democracy, citizens established various supervisory mechanisms to make sure the recall worked free from interference.
We call on the county and city local election commissions affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) not to act as turncoats of Taiwan. The local commissions should respect the rules set by the CEC, avoiding any deliberate, politically motivated violations of the law.
The actions of certain lawmakers have triggered an unprecedented feeling of unease among Taiwanese. Like the Athenians in ancient times, Taiwanese have initiated an ostracism-like election on the “turncoats” who might play a pivotal role in shaping the future of society. This recall election was launched by Taiwanese wanting to “ostracize” KMT and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers for threatening constitutional violations and passing pro-China legislation.
However, the issue goes beyond the question of whether those lawmakers should be recalled: What truly matters is whether Taiwanese can continue to live in Taiwan as a home with peace and prosperity, for ourselves and generations to come.
We should all thank the civil groups involved, which have set a remarkable recall record in Taiwan’s political history, leaving an inspiring chapter.
Wong Chong-Gyiau is a former director of Tainan Theological College and Seminary.
Translated by Lai Wen-chieh
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Eating at a breakfast shop the other day, I turned to an old man sitting at the table next to mine. “Hey, did you hear that the Legislative Yuan passed a bill to give everyone NT$10,000 [US$340]?” I said, pointing to a newspaper headline. The old man cursed, then said: “Yeah, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] canceled the NT$100 billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co and announced they would give everyone NT$10,000 instead. “Nice. Now they are saying that if electricity prices go up, we can just use that cash to pay for it,” he said. “I have no time for drivel like
Twenty-four Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers are facing recall votes on Saturday, prompting nearly all KMT officials and lawmakers to rally their supporters over the past weekend, urging them to vote “no” in a bid to retain their seats and preserve the KMT’s majority in the Legislative Yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had largely kept its distance from the civic recall campaigns, earlier this month instructed its officials and staff to support the recall groups in a final push to protect the nation. The justification for the recalls has increasingly been framed as a “resistance” movement against China and
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat that China does not want Russia to lose in Ukraine, because the US could shift its focus to countering Beijing. Wang made the comment while meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on July 2 at the 13th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, the South China Morning Post and CNN reported. Although contrary to China’s claim of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such a frank remark suggests Beijing might prefer a protracted war to keep the US from focusing on
RSS