Voters in Taiwan reject bid to oust China-friendly lawmakers in closely watched poll
TAIPEI Taiwan AP Taiwanese voters rejected a bid to oust about one-fifth of their lawmakers all from the opposition Nationalist Party in a recall polling Saturday dampening hopes for the ruling party to flip the balance of power in the self-ruled island s legislature The independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party won last year s presidential vote but the China-friendly Nationalists also known as the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People s Party have enough seats to form a majority bloc Official preliminary results manifested that the recall efforts failed to remove any of the two dozen KMT lawmakers The scale of the recall elections is unprecedented with another seven KMT lawmakers facing a similar vote on Aug The KMT presently holds seats while the ruling DPP holds seats For the DPP to secure a legislative majority at least six KMT lawmakers would need to be ousted and the ruling party would need to win the by-elections which must be held within three months of the announcement of results For the recall to pass more than a quarter of eligible voters in the electoral district must vote in favor of it and the total number of supporters must exceed those voting against The poll closed at p m local time Taiwan s Central Polling Commission will announce the official results on Aug If next month s poll results are also unfavorable to the DPP it would mean that the cabinet of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te could continue to face strong resistance from within the legislature before elections expected to take place in An uphill battle KMT chairman Eric Chu recounted reporters that voters had used their ballots to prove Taiwan s democracy is mature and great calling for an apology from Lai All Taiwanese people chose stability chose that the regime should focus on getting things done rather than engaging in bitter political fighting he reported Despite their huge effort those backing the recall were facing an uphill battle in trying to unseat lawmakers in well organized strongly KMT districts disclosed Lev Nachman a professor of political science at National Taiwan University The upshot is going to make it even harder for Lai to push his agenda forward especially ahead of local elections next year noted Nachman who is an expert on Taiwan s elections At the moment there is very little Lai can do other than try to think of other creative methods to appeal to the populace he described The Associated Press Fu Kun-chi one of the the bulk powerful and controversial lawmakers targeted declared the upshot left Lai with no option other than to meet with the opposition and find a way for Taiwan to proceed in a more stable way in this chaotic world DPP Secretary-General Lin Yu-chang declared they humbly accepted the results saying the recall should not be reduced to a win or defeat for political parties and that it should be seen as a demonstration of civic power He noted his party has the responsibility to reflect on masses sentiment more cautiously and adjust its approach to meet people s expectations Political retaliation claim Those who backing removing the lawmakers have criticized the KMT and its allies for blocking key statute especially the defense budget and passing controversial changes that are seen as diminishing the power of the executive and favoring China which considers the island its own territory The opposition parties actions sparked concerns among several Taiwanese about the island s democratic integrity and its ability to deter Chinese military threats leading to the recall campaigns But the KMT has accused the ruling party of resorting to political retaliation after it lost the legislative majority saying the recalls were undermining and challenging Taiwan s democratic system Tensions flared over the poll The elections have intensified tensions between those backing the status quo and those favoring improved ties with Beijing Critics accuse China-friendly politicians of compromising Taiwan and take issue with their meetings with mainland Chinese politicians But these Taiwanese politicians claim their connections are vital for dialogue given Beijing s refusal to interact with the DPP When petitioned about the recall electoral process China s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian reported in June that since the administration of Lai came into power it has sought to achieve one-party dominance and practiced dictatorship under the guise of democracy state broadcaster CCTV disclosed The office is a branch of China s ruling Communist Party leadership which itself maintains strict one-party rule Zhu declared that Lai s administration has spared no effort in suppressing opposition parties and those who supported the enhancement of cross-strait relations Taiwan s mainland affairs council mentioned Wednesday that the Chinese executives and state media had tried to blatantly interfere with the vote Leung released from Hong Kong Source
