Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) yesterday said that he believes civic groups can succeed in their campaign to recall lawmakers, advancing through to a final vote in at least 31 of the 37 targeted districts currently held by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.
Ker made the remarks when asked about the progress of the recall efforts.
“This year, we have the mass recall movement, which stems from how the pan-blue camp, together with Taiwan People’s Party [TPP] legislators, stirred up strife in the legislature, causing political wrangling, undermining the Constitution and damaging our democratic system,” he said.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
“Taiwanese voters are fed up with watching this unfold,” he added.
KMT lawmakers hold a narrow plurality in the 113-seat legislature and have teamed up with the TPP legislators and two independents to form an opposition majority of 62 to 51.
Citizen groups yesterday said that petition drives to recall KMT legislators have yielded positive results nationwide, although efforts in about six targeted districts have yet to meet the threshold to enter the second stage.
In Hsinchu County, Yu Hsiao-ching (余筱菁), a spokeswoman for local citizen groups involved in the recall campaign, said some volunteers were disappointed after falling short by about 2,000 signatures in their bid to recall KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩).
The group submitted the required documents and boxes of collected signatures to the Hsinchu County Election Commission yesterday, while also seeking clarification on whether a “waiting period” could be granted, allowing them to continue gathering signatures for an additional 10 days.
Following the submission, Yu Hsiao-ching urged volunteers to redirect their efforts toward supporting the ongoing petition drive in the county’s second electoral district, targeting KMT Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘).
The campaign has gathered 26,414 signatures for Lin’s recall, already exceeding the second-stage threshold of 23,287, or 10 percent of eligible voters, Yu said.
However, it was still important to build a “safety margin” — collecting more signatures than the threshold requires — as it is common for some signatures to be invalidated due to factors such as illegible handwriting, she said.
To ensure success in the recall vote, the group is aiming to collect at least 30,000 signatures, with hopes of reaching as many as 40,000, she said.
Separately, citizen groups leading the recall petition effort in Changhua County have urged local residents to support their campaign to unseat KMT Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣?), with the deadline for submitting signatures set for tomorrow.
The campaign has gathered more than 20,000 signatures, but remains about 6,000 short of the 26,719 threshold, Changhua campaign spokesman Chen Shih-hsiung (陳世雄) said.
Volunteers are collecting signatures at temporary mobile stations across the county, with many braving the rain and sacrificing their weekends to encourage people to sign, he said.
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