A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leaders and their allies of unfairly targeting two indigenous DPP lawmakers, drawing attention to questions regarding the recall of indigenous representatives.
DPP Legislator Saidhai Tahovecahe, representing the highland indigenous constituency, yesterday told reporters that she is being overwhelmed by the KMT party machine, which has called on its local councilors to recall two indigenous DPP lawmakers.
The KMT also joined forces with independent indigenous Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) to set up stations to gather signatures at service offices across the nation, she said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Tahovecahe, a Rukai from Kaohsiung’s Maolin District (茂林) and Asenay Daliyalrep (Chen Ying, 陳瑩), a Puyuma from Taitung County, are the only two elected indigenous DPP legislators.
The electoral system allows indigenous voters to elect six legislators, three for the “highland” and three for the “lowland” constituencies.
Tahovecahe and her aides said that due to the special nature of combined indigenous constituencies, the DPP has not launched any recall drive against the four other indigenous representatives.
On the other hand, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and other party officials have named both of the DPP’s indigenous legislators as targets, calling it a “precision recall,” and have given instructions for party members and all indigenous councilors at the local level to pool resources toward that effort, Tahovecahe said.
Central Election Commission data released this week show that among the recalls the KMT submitted, Tahovecahe and Daliyalrep were among the 12 (out of 17) legislators who did not reach the required 1 percent threshold, due to errors and irregularities.
The CEC has given the KMT a 10-day grace period to submit additional signatures needed to reach the 1 percent figure.
Former CEC head Chen In-chin (陳英鈐) said the effort to oust indigenous legislators has been a subject of debate, and would require a constitutional interpretation, as the recall process contravenes the principle of “one person one vote, each ballot must be equal in value.”
When electing indigenous representatives, each person has one vote that they use to vote for one among a choice of representatives, meaning that people with relatively less support can still be elected, Chen said.
However, if there is more than one representative up for a vote in a recall, each voter must cast a ballot for or against each person, meaning they have more than one vote per person, Chen said.
“The CEC must solicit expert viewpoints and undertake studies to adjust the recall threshold in such cases of combined multiple electorates,” he added.
Tahovecahe also accused the KMT of directing the recall effort from the top, whereas recall campaigns against the KMT have been initiated on the local level without aid from DPP members.
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