A total of 20 recall petitions were submitted to the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Monday, seeking to remove 19 Kuomintang (KMT) legislators and one suspended city mayor from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) from their positions. Various civic groups across Taiwan collected the required votes–1% of the total number of voters in the electoral district–over the Lunar New Year break, submitting the petitions on the earliest possible date following the holiday.
Eric Chu (right) responds to media questioning about the recall campaigns. (Photo: CNA)
Former New Taipei City mayor and current KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) expressed disappointment over the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) engaging in the campaign, suggesting it caused unnecessary disruption when work resumed after the holiday. Chu urged his supporters to stand up and defend democracy by supporting the KMT legislators.
DPP Caucus Chief Executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) clarified that the DPP has neither initiated and nor will it lead the recall campaigns, highlighting President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) remarks that the actions should be driven by public opinion. The party’s spokesperson Han Ying (韓瑩) echoed Wu’s comments, affirming the DPP’s respect for civic groups leading the recall efforts across Taiwan.
The 20 petitions submitted include those for KMT legislators in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu City, Nantou District, Taichung City, Yunlin District, Taitung District, and Hualien District, as well as the suspended TPP mayor of Hsinchu City.