Doctors and physicians’ associations yesterday urged people to support the upcoming recall votes, comparing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to cancer cells that must be removed to restore the health of the legislature and society.
Prominent medical figure and former legislator Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興) told a news conference in Taipei also attended by tech tycoon Robert Tsao (曹興誠) that KMT lawmakers are like mutated cancer cells spreading throughout the body, which are gradually killing Taiwanese society.
Tsao is the head of an alliance of civil groups that has been organizing petitions and campaigning for the mass recall of KMT lawmakers.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“The legislature is the brain of the nation, but now it can no longer function properly, and the central government is nearly paralyzed,” Chen said.
“This is why people cannot take it anymore, so civil groups have undertaken diligent efforts to organize signature petitions for the recall vote,” he added.
“It is the time for the medical community to stand up to help treat and remove the cancer cells to heal our society,” Chen said.
Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan chairman Wu Shu-min (吳樹民), former minister of health and welfare Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), medical doctor Lin Yi-min (林逸民), the Taiwan United Nations Alliance and the Taiwan Medical Association released a joint statement calling on the public to vote “yes” in the upcoming recall votes.
“The blue and white political camps wreaking havoc in the legislature is like Taiwan having malignant tumors in the brain,” the statement said.
“If we permit these cancerous growths to spread, they would threaten national security and Taiwan’s future,” it said.
“We see they have continued to express a pro-China stance, pushing legislation endangering Taiwan’s sovereignty and security,” the statement said.
“They have also contrived to seize more power by slashing budgets to paralyze the government, working to weaken our military and national defense, impeding Taiwan’s diplomatic activities, and halting construction projects,” it said.
“All these have sparked widespread anger and alarm in society,” the statement added.
“We are now in a life-and-death struggle for Taiwan’s existence. As medical professionals, we have the responsibility to stand with all sectors of society to support the recall vote and oust KMT lawmakers,” it said.
“We need to operate on it to remove the malignant brain tumors and clean up all the cancerous cells in the legislature to restore health to Taiwanese society,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said that the national referendum next month on extending the operation of Pingtung County’s Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would cost an estimated NT$1.1 billion (US$37.6 million) to hold.
The recall votes would cost about NT$16 million to NT$20 million for each electoral district in which a vote is being held, the CEC said.
The referendum and recall votes combined would cost about NT$1.62 billion, it said.
“Petitions to recall 26 KMT lawmakers have reached the second-stage threshold,” the CEC said. “The recall votes for 24 of these lawmakers are to be held on July 26.”
The two remaining recall votes — targeting Nantou County lawmakers Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and Yu Hao (游顥), both of the KMT — are scheduled to be held on Aug. 23, the same day as the referendum.
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