TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A day after a large anti-government protest in Taipei, Kuomintang (KMT) Chair Eric Chu (朱立倫) called for the recall of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

On Sunday, Chu attended an event in Hualien with KMT caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) and other party leaders, where he accused Lai of acting like a dictator who does not know how to govern and undermining Taiwan’s democracy, per UDN. Chu said lawmakers should initiate a recall motion to remove Lai from office for attempting to silence dissent.

Chu said the motion would be introduced at the Legislative Yuan on May 20, unless Lai repents and offers to negotiate with the opposition parties. Under Taiwan’s Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, a president cannot be subject to recall within the first year after election. Lai was inaugurated on May 20, 2024.

A recall motion requires the support of one-fourth of legislators to be proposed and two-thirds approval to pass, making the move highly unlikely to succeed. The KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) opposition would need more than a dozen Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators to support the motion to successfully recall Lai.

Chu’s call comes amid an escalating mass recall campaign by the DPP targeting KMT legislators, as the DPP seeks to regain control of the Legislative Yuan. The KMT has launched counter-campaigns targeting DPP lawmakers.

Last week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) called for a no-confidence motion against Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). However, Chu said on Tuesday that removing the Cabinet would not solve the current crisis and could instead help the DPP in its recall efforts. Chu urged the opposition to focus on removing Lai instead.

Chu pointed to Saturday’s large protest turnout as evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with Lai’s government. According to organizers, the protest in Taipei drew over 250,000 people, per UDN. The event, organized by the KMT and supported by the TPP, targeted what they described as judicial overreach by Lai’s administration.

Meanwhile, KMT Taipei Chair Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹) was detained Friday on suspicion of abetting forgery during a recall campaign targeting two DPP legislators. As cases of alleged forgery by KMT members surface around Taiwan, the KMT accuses Lai’s government of using the Ministry of Justice to unfairly persecute opposition voices.