Lai urges unity, praises democracy after sweeping recall loss

Taipei, July 26 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) called for unity and praised democracy after his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered a sweeping loss in Saturday's recall votes.

"Today's outcome is neither a victory for one side nor a defeat for the other," Lai wrote in a Facebook post. "Both supporting and opposing a recall are legitimate rights of the people guaranteed by the Constitution."

The president praised the Taiwanese people for expressing their will through constitutional and democratic means despite differing views, Lai said.

"This is the true essence of Taiwan's cherished democracy," he said.

All 24 Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers survived Saturday's recall vote, preserving opposition control of the Legislature with support from the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP).

Removal of 12 would have given the DPP control of the legislative body, pending by-elections to fill the vacant seats.

Only seven of the 24 recall votes against lawmakers met a required threshold -- at least 25 percent of eligible voters casting ballots in favor -- for the recall to pass, but all ultimately failed, as the number of supporting votes fell short of those opposing.

Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安), a formerly TPP member who has been suspended over a court conviction on fraud charges, a ruling she is appealing, also survived a recall vote.

In the post, Lai said everyone should respect and accept the outcome of the vote, describing it as a decision made by the people through the exercise of their constitutional rights.

Lai expressed gratitude to the over 1.3 million people who signed petitions to initiate the recall votes, and to the millions more who cast their ballots.

Although none of the recall motions succeeded, Lai said the "civic power" demonstrated throughout the campaign was not in vain.

The surge of civil power enabled the unfreezing of government budgets, reminded politicians from every party of their duty of loyalty to the nation, and further solidified the national direction of resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and safeguarding Taiwan, Lai contended.

He expressed hope that all political parties and every sector of society would stand united in safeguarding Taiwan's democratic and constitutional system, and in defending the nation.

"Let us work together and move forward in unity," Lai said, but did not specifically pledge to reach out to the opposition to try to bridge the gap between political parties.

Backed by the ruling DPP, the mass recall campaign was initiated by civic groups that were opposed to a series of legislative measures adopted by the KMT and the TPP.

The civil groups have argued that the measures undermine Taiwan's constitutional order and weaken its efforts to strengthen defense capabilities in the face of an escalating military threat from China, framing their campaign as "Oppose the CCP, Safeguard Taiwan."

A total of 31 KMT lawmakers face recall, out of 39 directly elected across Taiwan. Another seven KMT lawmakers will face recall votes on August 23.