Groups submit recall vote proposals for 12 opposition lawmakers

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Groups campaigning to recall legislators submitted vote proposals targeting a dozen lawmakers of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) to the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Monday, bringing to 44 the number of lawmakers facing potential recall votes.

Among the elected KMT lawmakers targeted by the proposals submitted Monday were Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) and seven-term Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) from Taichung, as well as Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) and Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) from Hsinchu County.

Legislators Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) and Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) from Taipei, Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) -- the longest serving KMT lawmaker in his eighth term -- Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷), Lin Te-fu (林德福), Chang Chih-lun (張智倫) and Liao Hsien-hsiang (廖先翔) from New Taipei were also among the 12.

These proposals followed those submitted on Feb. 3 in a bid to recall 19 other KMT lawmakers, after lawmakers in the current Legislature concluded the first of their four-year terms on Jan. 31, 2025.

According to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, a recall petition can only be initiated after an elected official has served one year in office.

The initial proposal only has to meet a relatively easy threshold -- getting support from more than 1 percent of the total number of eligible voters from the relevant electoral district in 25 days -- to be approved.

Once a proposal is verified, however, another round of campaigning is required in which the valid signatures of at least 10 percent of eligible voters in each district need to be collected within 60 days and then verified for a recall vote to take place.

One of the campaigners who has led the recall campaign against KMT legislators is Robert Tsao (曹興誠), a former chairman of Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp.

Tsao said the nationwide recall campaign is aimed at "protecting democracy" in Taiwan against threats from the Chinese Communist Party, not a faceoff between the blue and green camps.

The blue and green camps Tsao mentioned usually referred to the two major political parties in Taiwan, the KMT and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), respectively, because of the main colors of their party emblems.

The KMT holds 52 of the 113 seats in the Legislature, compared to 51 for the DPP, eight for the Taiwan People's Party and two independents ideologically aligned with the KMT.

Only the 79 lawmakers directly elected by their constituencies can be recalled. Of those 79 seats, 39 are held by the KMT and 38 are held by the DPP.

In response to Tsao's remarks, Legislators Hsu Chiao-hsin said Monday that she believed voters could see through the businessman's tactic of painting people as siding with the Chinese Communist Party and would oppose the recall campaign.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, the CEC said it had received 44 recall vote proposals for lawmakers.

Beside the 31 KMT lawmakers, recall vote proposals targeting 13 DPP lawmakers, including former Deputy Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) from Taichung, have been submitted to the commission in recent days.

Other DPP lawmakers who could face a recall vote are Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) from Taichung, New Taipei legislators Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧), Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸), Wu Chi-ming (吳琪銘) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) and Tainan lawmakers Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and Wang Ting-yu (王定宇).

The remaining DPP lawmakers are Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) from Taipei, Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) from Chiayi County, as well as two elected to represent Indigenous peoples -- Chen Ying (陳瑩) and Wu Li-hua/Saidhai Tahovecahe (伍麗華).