After beating recall, opposition lawmaker calls for Cabinet reshuffle

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) Lawmaker Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) on Sunday called for a Cabinet reshuffle, a day after she and 23 other KMT legislators successfully fended off recall campaigns against them.

As with many KMT legislators who retained their legislative seats, Wang took a victory lap Sunday in her district to thank her constituents for voting against the bid to recall her.

Wang told reporters that she observed an obvious rift between members of the general public due to recent events surrounding the recall campaign, and that now that the results were in, the ruling and opposition parties needed to work together to mend the divide.

The opposition-controlled Legislature recently passed a number of bills that benefit the public, she said, but not only has the Executive Yuan not reviewed them, it has adopted a confrontational attitude.

She also criticized the government's performance on several recent issues, such as trade and tariff issues with the United States and the response to a recent typhoon disaster in southern Taiwan, as subpar, and said there were many calls for a Cabinet reshuffle.

Wang said a Cabinet shakeup was needed to take political responsibility for the defeat, but argued that given the challenges currently faced, the new faces should not be people without experience or party loyalists who need a job or people who are brought in hastily simply as a show of political responsibility.

Speaking with CNA, ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) said she expected opposition parties to make assertions that turn the civic campaign into a confrontation between political parties and force officials to step down for the sake of "political responsibility."

The ruling party will steadily face the result of the recall campaign, she said, adding that taking "responsibility" was not just a matter of talk but of actions taken to lead the country.

She also added that the DPP will not dance to the tune of the opposition.

On Saturday, all 24 lawmakers of the main opposition KMT who were up for recall survived their recall votes, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People's Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the Legislature.

In only seven of the 25 recall votes, which included the recall of suspended Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安), did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the proposal to pass, according to Central Election Commission numbers on Saturday.