Keelung mayor Hsieh remains in office after defeating recall vote

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) will remain in office after a majority of voters rejected his recall in a public vote on Sunday.

With vote counts reported from all polling stations, figures from the Keelung City Election Commission show that there were 69,934 votes (44.85 percent of valid votes) in favor of recalling Hsieh and 86,014 votes (55.15 percent of valid votes) in favor of him remaining in office as of 6:22 p.m.

Not only did a majority of voters reject the recall, the number of ballots in favor of Hsieh stepping down from office did not meet the required 25 percent threshold of 77,700 ballots.

Therefore, according to Taiwan's Public Officials Election and Recall Act, Hsieh will continue to be mayor of the northern port city and cannot face another recall vote for the remainder of his term in office.

The results show a voter turnout of 50.44 percent of 310,797 eligible voters. The final results are pending certification by the Central Election Commission.

In all seven districts, the number of votes in favor of Hsieh stepping down was lower than the number of votes rejecting the recall.

Two-hundred-and-eighty-three polling stations were opened between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m across Keelung's seven administrative districts, according to the Keelung City Election Commission.

The result will be a disappointment for campaigners who initiated the recall vote in March 2024 due to what they believed were unfulfilled election promises by Hsieh and a dispute over a change in the operator of Keelung E-Square Mall.

Hsieh, a member of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), has received significant support from high-ranking members of his party, with figures such as former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) appearing together with Hsieh at rallies in the run-up to the recall vote.

Hsieh, 49, assumed office as Keelung mayor on Dec. 25, 2022. He previously served as a three-term lawmaker in the Legislative Yuan representing the northern port city from 2005 to 2016.

The recall vote on Sunday is the first such recall challenge for a leader of a Taiwanese city or county since then-Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) lost a recall vote in 2020.