Taipei, Taiwan – Taiwanese voters have rejected an offer Oust About a fifth of their legislators, all of the nationalist opposition party, during a recall election on Saturday, attenuating the hopes that the ruling party overthrows the balance of powers to the legislature of the self-extent.
The Democratic Progressive Party in the power of independence won the presidential election last yearBut nationalists favorable to China, also known as KMT, and the small party of the Taiwan people have enough seats to form a majority block.
Official preliminary results have shown that recall efforts had not deleted any of the two dozen KMT legislators. The magnitude of the recall elections is unprecedented, with seven other KMT legislators faced with a similar vote on August 23.
The KMT currently has 52 seats, while the DPP in power has 51 seats. For the DPP to obtain a legislative majority, at least six kmt legislators should be ousted, and the power party should win the by -elections, which must be held within three months of the announcement of the results.
For the recall to adopt, more than a quarter of the eligible voters in the electoral district must vote in favor of it, and the total number of supporters must exceed those who vote.
The survey closed at 4 p.m. local time. The Taiwan Central Electoral Commission will announce the official results on August 1.
If the results of the survey next month are also unfavorable to the DPP, this would mean that the government of the president of Taiwan Lai Ching-te could continue to deal with strong resistance within the Legislative Assembly before the elections occurred in 2028.
The president of KMT, Eric Chu, told journalists that voters had used their ballots to prove that the democracy of Taiwan is mature and large, calling for apology from Lai.
“All Taiwanese have chosen stability, have chosen that the government focuses on achieving things, rather than engaging in bitter political battles,” he said.
Despite their enormous efforts, those who support the recall faced a “difficult battle” trying to overthrow legislators in well -organized districts and strongly KMT, said Lev Nachman, professor of political science at the National University of Taiwan.
The result will make Lai more difficult to advance his agenda, especially before the local elections next year, said Nachman, who is an expert in the Taiwan elections.
“For the moment, there is very few lai can do except try to think of other creative ways to call on the public,” he told the Associated Press.
Fu Kun-Chi, one of the most powerful and most controversial legislators targeted, said that the result had left Lai without any option to meet the opposition and “find a way for Taiwan to proceed more stable in this chaotic world”.
DPP Secretary General, Lin Yu-Chang, said that they had humbly accepted the results, saying that the recall should not be reduced to a victory or defeat for political parties and that he should be considered a demonstration of civic power. He said that his party was responsible for thinking more carefully about the public feeling and adjusting his approach to meet people’s expectations.
Those who support the abolition of the 24 legislators criticized the KMT and its allies to block key legislation, in particular the defense budgetAnd pass controversial changes which are considered to decrease the power of the executive and promote China, which Consider the island its own territory.
The actions of the opposition parties have aroused concerns among some Taiwanese concerning the democratic integrity of the island and its capacity to dissuade Chinese military threats, leading to the recall campaigns.
But the KMT accused the party in power to resort to political reprisals after losing the legislative majority, claiming that the reminders were on and off the Taiwan democratic system.
The elections have intensified tensions between those supporting the status quo and those promoting improved links with Beijing.
Critics accuse politicians adapted to China of compromising Taiwan and contesting their meetings with continental Chinese politicians. But these Taiwanese politicians affirm that their links are essential for dialogue given the refusal of Beijing to interact with the DPP.
Asked about the recall election, the spokesperson for the Taiwan business office in China, Zhu Fenglian, said in June that since the administration of Lai came to power, he had sought to reach a “dominance to a part” and to practice the dictatorship under the cover of democracy, reported the CCTV of the broadcaster. The office is a branch of the government of the Communist Party Chinese leader, which itself maintains a unique strict rule.
Zhu said that the Government of Lai had spared no effort in the abolition of opposition parties and those who supported the development of relations between traits.
The Taiwan Continental Affairs Council said on Wednesday that the Chinese authorities and the state media had tried to clearly interfere with the vote.
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Leung has reported to Hong Kong.
