The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Saturday called on its supporters to vote “no” in this week’s recall election against 24 of its legislators, saying it would also send a “no” message to President William Lai (賴清德).
“Never in Taiwan’s history has any leader in power initiated a mass recall campaign against the opposition — not [former president] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), not [former president] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and not the KMT,” KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said at a rally in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). “You would not find a single democratic country in the world where a mass recall campaign is launched against the opposition. Only one person dares to do that, and that person is William Lai.”
“On July 26, we must stand up and say ‘no’ to William Lai to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy,” Chu said, urging party supporters to cast a “no” vote in the recall election on Saturday.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The mass recall campaign was initiated by civic groups opposed to the legislative measures pushed through by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority, and has been backed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The civic groups have said that the measures passed by the opposition undermine Taiwan’s constitutional order and weaken efforts to bolster defense capabilities against growing Chinese military threats.
This week’s recall votes would decide the fates of 24 KMT legislators, and another round of recall voting targeting seven other KMT lawmakers would be held on Aug. 23.
Photo courtesy of the KMT Hualien chapter
At the rally, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the recall election was “a totally undemocratic political movement signaling dictatorship.”
“The ruling party is using state resources to recall 31 opposition lawmakers — to recall all of them, to slaughter them all,” Han told a crowd the organizers estimated to be more than 20,000.
“We must never allow our democracy to backslide,” Han said. “We must never let the DPP lead us into one-party authoritarian rule and dictatorship.”
At another KMT rally on Saturday in Taichung, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) took the stage to urge people to cast a “no” vote at the polls.
“We will make sure the DPP and William Lai understand that their actions are against the will of the people,” Huang said.
The actions of Lai and his party have prompted the public to stand up and “teach the DPP a lesson,” he said.
“What a national leader should do is bring hope and unity to the people, not spread hatred and create divisions among them,” Huang said.
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