TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Legislative Yuan sent the amended Public Officials Election and Recall Act to the Cabinet for promulgation just before the end of the workday on Friday ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) harshly criticized the opposition KMT lawmakers for the move, calling it a “nakedly political calculation” and “disrespectful” to the Cabinet. In response, the Cabinet urgently convened an emergency meeting and requested the Legislative Yuan reconsider the legislation, reported CNA.
The new amendments to the election and recall law, proposed by KMT and TPP lawmakers, passed the third reading at the Legislative Yuan in late December. After that, the legislation entered a stipulated one-month period for final reviews and discussions.
According to Cho, the Cabinet received the new draft amendments for promulgation at 4:47 p.m. on Friday as everyone was preparing to leave work for the long winter holiday. Cho apologized to ministers and Cabinet personnel for the urgent meeting and said he was very dissatisfied with the conduct of Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), per CNA.
The newly revised Public Officials Election and Recall Act will increase the threshold for signatures when petitioning to recall elected officials in Taiwan. The new amendments also introduce more strict requirements for signatories, which many in the DPP claim constitute an unreasonable burden and limit the democratic right of recall.
The Cabinet urged lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan to reconsider the legislation and build consensus through greater dialogue about what is best for Taiwan.
Cho said he does not seek to escalate conflict between the Cabinet and Legislative Yuan, but noted that it is the Cabinet’s responsibility to uphold constitutional order.
He also said that after requesting reconsideration of the legislation, a right to which the government is legally entitled, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will promulgate the legislation within the stipulated period. The same legislative process recently played out with controversial amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act.
New amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act after the Lunar New Year will likely add uncertainty to an already tense political landscape.
In early January, the DPP legislative caucus leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) called for a mass recall campaign targeting 41 opposition lawmakers as a strategy for the DPP to regain control of the Legislative Yuan. On Friday afternoon, Ker held a press conference calling on the DPP and supporters to pull out all the stops in pursuing the mass recall campaign, referring to the efforts as a “Super-Ultra-First Class” priority, per UDN.
Some KMT members have responded to Ker’s challenge with calls for a counter-mass recall campaign. This sets the stage for an unpredictable year of political challenges for the Lai administration.