The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday proposed an amendment to the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法) to allow those launching recall-related events to receive political donations, saying that the current regulations infringe on people’s right to recall officials.
The draft amendment says that groups launching a recall of officials and those being recalled should both be able to receive political donations, but the groups initiating the process would have to pass the first stage of collecting signatures before they can ask for donations.
The funds could not be used for other purposes and all donations to either side would have to be turned over to the government once the efforts to launch a recall, or a recall vote, have concluded, it says.
Photo courtesy of Chou Chun-mi’s office
Article 17 of the Constitution says that the rights of election and recall are important factors for public participation in politics, said DPP Legislator Chou Chun-mi (周春米), one of the sponsors of the bill.
However, the act currently only designates political parties and groups, as well as candidates, eligible recipients of political donations, and fails to address by-elections resulting from a successful recall, Chou said, adding that the oversights go against the nation’s democratic system.
DPP Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said that a recall vote launched against Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has highlighted the inadequacies of the current system.
The Wecare Kaohsiung coalition of civic groups gathered sufficient signatures to launch the recall vote against Han, which was approved by the Central Election Commission and is to be held on Saturday next week.
Civic groups are comprised of regular citizens and would face difficulty standing up to the concerted actions of a government, such as those of Han and the Kaohsiung City Government, Liu said.
DPP Legislator Lai Pin-yu (賴品妤) cited documents previously released by Wecare Kaohsiung showing that it had spent NT$8 million (US$266,773) staging rallies.
Han is the only public figure in Taiwan to be the target of two recalls, following one in 1994 when he was a legislator, Lai said.
Han and the Kaohsiung City Government’s actions highlight the urgent need to amend relevant legislation and systems, she added.
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