Voters in the southern city of Kaohsiung recalled the city’s mayor Saturday in a historic first for Taiwan.
Over 939,000 Kaohsiung residents voted in favor of recalling Mayor Han Kuo-yu. That was well above the threshold of 575,000 votes required for Han’s ouster. Only about 25,000 voters voted against recalling Han.
Han will be removed from office by next Friday. The Cabinet will appoint an acting mayor, and the city will hold a by-election by September 12.
The recall vote was launched by Wecare Kaohsiung, a group with ties with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. The group accused Han of breaking an earlier promise to Kaohsiung residents by launching a presidential campaign just four months after taking office as mayor.
During a press conference held an hour and a half after polls closed, Han accused the Democratic Progressive Party of mobilizing government resources to remove him from office. Han said the recall vote was unjust and that he has been the target of slander for the nearly two years since he took office as mayor.