Scholar urges political compromise in Taiwan after recall vote

Washington, July 26 (CNA) Taiwan's political parties should focus on compromise to prevent further polarization, an American scholar said, after a mass recall vote on Saturday failed to unseat any of the 24 targeted Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers, allowing the opposition to maintain control of the Legislature.

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the U.S.-based German Marshall Fund, told CNA in an email that divided government is not uncommon in a democracy.

"The deep polarization in Taiwan's politics is harmful to national security," Glaser said. "Taiwan's ruling and opposition parties need to strike compromises that strengthen governance and deliver better outcomes for the people."

In addition to the 24 KMT lawmakers, suspended Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) also survived a recall vote, despite facing a corruption scandal.

Following the vote, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) acknowledged the failure of the mass recall effort, framing the outcome as a reflection of civic engagement rather than partisan rivalry. The results also reinforced the Kuomintang's (KMT) position as the largest party in the Legislature.

In 2024, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) retained the presidency with Lai Ching-te (賴清德) winning the election, but lost its majority in the Legislative Yuan.

The KMT holds 52 seats, including 13 at-large lawmakers, while the DPP has 51 and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) eight. Two independents align with the KMT, which has often worked with the TPP to pass favored bills, drawing criticism from the DPP.

In response, the DPP launched recall efforts targeting 31 KMT lawmakers in hopes of regaining a majority. After Saturday's votes, seven more recall cases are set for Aug. 23.

Michael Cunningham, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, said it can be appropriate in some cases to recall an elected official.

"But I don't think anyone in Taiwan wants to see a precedent develop in which mass recall campaigns become standard practice and elected officials have to essentially win two elections before they can dedicate their full attention to doing the jobs voters elected them to do," Cunningham said.

In a report, Joshua Freedman, a non-resident fellow in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said the recall results are likely to further harden the KMT's opposition to DPP governance.

He warned that if Taiwan's political leaders become consumed by partisan infighting, they will "struggle to mount an effective strategy for dealing with pressure from Beijing, and they will not be able to navigate increasingly fraught relations with Washington."

In an interview with the Sankei Shimbun, Yoshiyuki Ogasawara, a Japanese scholar and chair professor at National Tsing Hua University, said the recall vote results marked a major victory for the China-friendly KMT and a rejection of the DPP's campaign to "protect Taiwan" from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence.

Ogasawara said he feared that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infiltration in Taiwan could escalate in the future.

He said the DPP is likely to face an uphill battle in its bid to recall seven more KMT lawmakers in August.