Taiwan's opposition parties urge 'no' vote in recall targeting 24 lawmakers

Taipei, June 21 (CNA) Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) have called on the public to cast a "no" vote in the upcoming recall elections involving 24 KMT lawmakers, saying it is necessary to oppose one-party dominance by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"To defend democracy and oppose the DPP's one-party dominance and continued harm to Taiwan," the KMT legislative caucus urged those who support the KMT, democracy, and the rule of law to vote against the recalls, the caucus said in a news release issued Friday evening.

"Please come out and cast your sacred 'no' vote against the recalls," the caucus said, adding that doing so would "save Taiwan," as well as protect the country's democracy and judicial independence.

The KMT's statement came after the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced earlier in the day that recall votes will be held on July 26 for 24 KMT lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) -- a former member of the smaller opposition TPP.

The 24 lawmakers facing the recall votes are KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), lawmakers from Taipei Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀), Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), as well as others across Taiwan, according to the CEC announcement.

The KMT currently holds 52 seats in Taiwan's 113-seat Legislature and, together with the TPP, which holds eight seats, forms a majority bloc. The DPP holds 51 seats.

At an "anti-recall" event held in Taipei on Saturday morning, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said his party will adopt a "regional joint defense" strategy to mobilize support for KMT lawmakers facing recall and strengthen coordination among local governments headed by KMT mayors to counter the recall campaign backed by the DPP.

"We don't have the kind of unlimited central government resources that the DPP has... which allow them to coordinate with government agencies to carry out so-called campaign support work," Chu said.

"All we can do is stay united," Chu said, adding that he had asked Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) -- a KMT figure with high approval ratings in the central Taiwanese city -- to visit different parts of Taiwan to support KMT lawmakers facing recalls and to exert "her greatest influence."

In a statement issued Friday evening, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) also called on the public to cast a "no" vote in the July 26 recall elections, saying that such a vote would not only reject political infighting but also serve as a vote of no confidence in President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who is from the DPP.

Huang said the DPP should openly admit that the recall campaign is a political struggle it launched after failing to accept defeat in the legislative elections on Jan. 13, 2024, and that its ultimate goal is to return to one-party rule under the DPP.

The recall drive against the KMT lawmakers, launched by civil society groups and supported by the DPP, marks an unprecedented campaign to remove nearly all the KMT lawmakers directly elected to Taiwan's Legislature last year.

Besides the 24 KMT lawmakers, the recall drive had also targeted other legislators from the main opposition party. However, some of the recall bids against KMT lawmakers failed to meet the required thresholds for citizen support signatures in the earlier stages of the process.

Unlike KMT lawmakers targeted in the recall campaign, all eight TPP legislators currently serving in the Legislature hold at-large seats, which are allocated based on the proportion of votes their party received through the party-list ballot, rather than being elected through district-based elections.

Under Taiwan's Public Officials Election and Recall Act, "recall provisions shall not apply to electees in elections for legislators at-large," making TPP lawmakers ineligible for recall under the current system.