TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers protested on the floor of the Legislative Yuan on Friday (July 12) in opposition to the second reading of draft amendments to change Taiwan's Public Officials Election and Recall Act.
Despite the protests of DPP lawmakers, the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) were successful in moving the proposed changes forward, with a final vote planned for Tuesday (July 16), per CNA. During Friday’s session, the blue and white alliance of the KMT and TPP was also able to add a new provision to the proposed legislation requiring copies of national IDs for citizens who sign recall petitions.
Over the past week, DPP lawmakers have occupied conference rooms and sparred with KMT and TPP lawmakers on the Legislative Yuan floor to block the draft amendments from moving forward. After the Internal Administration Committee was unable to complete a review of the draft legislation, the KMT brought the legislation directly to the floor for a vote on Friday.
Although the amendment requiring a copy of a citizen’s national ID was previously shelved, KMT and TPP legislators on Friday could include the measure thanks to their numerical advantage. The measure, proposed by the convener of the KMT caucus Fu Kun-qi (傅崐萁) and KMT lawmaker Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄), will require a copy of the front and back of a national ID for every person who signs a recall petition.
The measure is intended to prevent people from signing on behalf of friends or relatives. However, opponents claim it could compromise citizens’ private information if the recall petition lists are mishandled or intentionally leaked.
The proposed amendment regarding the inclusion of ID copies states that those found guilty of using another person’s ID to sign a petition may be fined and face imprisonment. Additionally, the Central Election Commission would remove signatures without an accompanying copy of the person’s ID from the petition count, per LTN.
Under current law, in the first stage, signatures from 1% of an electorate can initiate a recall petition to remove a politician from office. Once the second stage is triggered, petitioners must then collect signatures from 10% of the electorate to trigger a public referendum.
Finally, a recall vote for an elected official in Taiwan requires 25% of the electorate to “agree” with the recall proposal. The "agree" votes must outnumber the “disagree” votes.
The KMT hopes to amend the process in two crucial ways. First, they aim to raise the threshold to initiate a recall campaign. Second, they seek to include a provision that the total number of “agree” votes must also outnumber the votes the official originally received when elected to office.
