Recall vote of Keelung mayor set for Oct. 13

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) A special election will be held on Oct. 13 for voters to decide whether to recall Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on Friday.

The date was set after the CEC reviewed a petition to recall the mayor initiated by "the Shanhai citizens' movement to remove Liang" (山海公民拆樑行動), which collected 43,137 signatures, of which 36,909 were verified, CEC Chairperson Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) told a press conference.

The campaigners needed at least 30,792 signatures, or 10 percent of the eligible voters in the last Keelung mayoral election, to force a recall vote.

"The Shanhai citizens' movement to remove Liang" was founded on Feb. 21 this year with the purpose of removing Hsieh, who has been in office since December 2022.

According to the movement, the main reason for the launch of the recall was Hsieh's alleged mishandling of property rights relating to the city's parking complex/shopping mall landmark "Keelung E-Square." The contract was originally signed when incumbent Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) was Keelung mayor.

Claiming problems with the original agreement signed by Lin's administration, the management company of the mall and its partner -- which built the bulk of the shopping structure -- Hsieh stripped the original companies of their property rights.

An agreement on the right to run the land and the mall was then signed between Hsieh's administration and mall franchise Breeze group, which later rebranded the landmark "East Coast by Breeze."

In addition to a series of property right claims from the landmark's original operator/builder which have made abuse of power accusations against Hsieh's city government, the fact the Breeze company is closely associated with an acquaintance of Hsieh saw the company's lucrative new contract lead to allegations of corruption, resulting in the movement's launch of the recall initiative.

Under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, the number of votes cast in favor of the recall has to exceed those cast against it and be equal to at least one-quarter of all eligible voters in the district for a recall vote to succeed.

In Keelung's case, 76,979 yes votes need to be cast on Oct. 13 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to recall Hsieh.

The CEC will release an official recall notice by Sept. 3 and organize televised recall briefings from Oct. 3-12.