Independent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) yesterday weathered a recall vote to retain her councilor seat in Fongshan District (鳳山).
Kaohsiung City Election Commission data showed that 65,391 people voted against recalling her, while 55,261 voted in favor.
The voter turnout was 41.54 percent, the data showed.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
According to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), at least 25 percent of eligible voters, in this case 72,892 people, were required to vote in favor of a recall for it to pass.
Organizers of a campaign to recall Huang proposed the motion in June last year, on the grounds that she had shown no interest in Kaohsiung affairs and was therefore unfit to serve, campaign spokesperson Hsu Shang-hsien (徐尚賢) said.
While delivering a speech after the results were revealed, Huang was flanked by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) and Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), as well as other Kaohsiung city councilors from the DPP.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as DPP chairperson, had called on party members to support Huang.
Huang was in tears at first, momentarily unable to talk, and then began by thanking Fongshan residents for their support.
She also thanked DPP members and other politicians from the pan-green camp.
“We do not want hatred to spread in Taiwan. Fongshan people acted to stop this hatred, to end this retributive recall drive,” she said. “This is a victory for the forces of democracy ... and a victory for pro-Taiwan forces.”
Separately yesterday, DPP spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said the recall result “indicates that Taiwanese detest retributive recalls spearheaded by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).”
“Such recall drives are a waste of resources and pervert our democratic system. They also obstruct the expression of diverse ... viewpoints in a maturing society and impede Taiwan’s progress,” she said.
KMT officials in Kaohsiung said that the recall motion failed because other political parties put too many resources into protecting Huang.
Huang officially entered politics in 2018, when she was elected to the Kaohsiung City Council as a New Power Party (NPP) member.
In August last year, she quit the NPP over what she described as “unfair voting rules in the party’s decisionmaking committee.”
Additional reporting by CNA
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS