Civil groups behind recall campaigns held a joint rally in Taipei yesterday, pledging to oust five Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in the capital, while activists in Taichung reached the signature threshold in their recall campaign against KMT Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒).
Gathering outside the Taipei Arena yesterday morning to commence a series of activities and street canvassing events, the groups received support from dozens of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and city councilors taking part in the rally.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) set July 26 as voting day for the recall elections against 24 KMT legislators across the nation, as well as suspended Hsinchu City Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Among the 24 KMT legislators facing the July 26 recall votes are five KMT members elected from constituencies in Taipei — Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀), Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆).
“This time we must show the determination and resiliency of Taiwanese to fight all the way to oust these five KMT legislators, because Taipei is the capital city and leads the way for rest of the nation,” a spokesperson for the groups said. “When we successfully remove these five KMT seats, it would be a huge boost for all of Taiwan, as it means we are able to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy.”
Taipei City Councilor Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) of the DPP urged people to cast a “Yes” ballot in the recall elections to ensure a bright future for younger generations.
Separately, Lin Hsuan-hung (林宣宏), spokesman for the group campaigning to recall the KMT’s Yen Kuan-heng from his Taichung constituency, yesterday submitted 4,068 supplementary signatures, paving the way for a potential recall vote in August, if the petition passes CEC verification.
Former Taiwan Statebuilding Party legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) said that he would shave his head clean in a promise to voters, as he wanted to encourage success in collecting signatures in the recall campaign against Yen Kuan-heng.
Chen was elected in 2020 for the same Taichung constituency, but the KMT in 2021 mounted a successful recall campaign against him, which ousted Chen from office.
The seat was won by the DPP in the subsequent 2022 by-election before Yen Kuan-heng was elected last year.
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