By Paul Lin 林保華
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) proposed recalling Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and 41 lawmakers of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
However, civil society groups have already initiated campaigns to recall several lawmakers. Would Ker’s call trigger a nationwide recall movement? That is not realistic, nor would it yield positive results. The DPP has fewer seats than the KMT, which holds a majority in the legislature together with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
Ker is known for his negotiating techniques. He is either confident he would win or just chanting a slogan. He was also confident during the legislative speaker election last year when he said TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) was “the female version of Han” and voted for the DPP’s candidate. I thought he had negotiated with the opposition to secure votes for the DPP. However, that was not the case and Han was elected as speaker. Has the situation improved enough that the DPP would succeed in recalling Han?
Some KMT legislators have strong holds in their respective districts, such as in Kinmen and Lienchiang counties. It would be a difficult to initiate a recall campaign, as not much that could be done with the limited manpower of civic group volunteers. Would it not be better to concentrate our efforts on recalling the most unpopular KMT legislators than spread ourselves too thin?
Focus should be placed on exposing the identities of those who collude with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and coerce others to do so. Those with few supporters should also be recalled. Even if the recall fails, they would experience a severe setback and learn a lesson.
Initiating a mass recall would only incite hatred, polarize our society and trigger confrontation, instead of fostering unity. It is not something the ruling DPP or other democratic countries would like to see.
There are still options. The Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan are willing to negotiate with Han to seek a way out, which Han is not opposed to. Why deprive ourselves of that?
President William Lai (賴清德) said the passing of the three controversial bills contravenes the principle of separation of powers and deviates from the true meaning of “by the people.” He emphasized that democratic disputes should be resolved with even greater democracy, and hoped there could be more efforts to safeguard Taiwan.
If negotiation does not yield results, that “greater democracy” could be a referendum or a mass recall. A referendum is less confrontational and more universal, as every voter could participate and every vote is counted equally. It represents the public opinion. While preparing for the referendum, no one has the right to stop a small-scale recall movement initiated by civil society.
When the DPP held a majority in the legislature, amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) were negotiated for many years. Although the bill was passed, the act is still not comprehensive. Now that the DPP is the minority party, Ker, known as the “king of negotiation,” should give full play to his abilities instead of taking things to extremes.
Taiwan’s economy is flourishing, with the artificial intelligence industry at its core. Meanwhile, people in China are living in the direst of circumstances, which is why the CCP is picking quarrels and provoking Taiwan to shift public attention.
Taiwanese should be aware of the circumstances. While US president-elect Donald Trump is “making America great again,” Taiwanese should make Taiwan great again.
Paul Lin is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Translated by Fion Khan
