More than 900,000 voters in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, have voted in the unprecedented recall targeting its mayor, Han Kuo-yu, who had tried and failed to secure the presidential seat earlier this year under a ticket from Taiwan’s leading opposition Kuomintang (KMT).
According to broadcaster Channel News Asia (CNA), a total of 939,090 voters backed his removal, a figure much higher than the 25%, or 574,996, votes required. The number of votes against his recall amounted to 25,051, the report also said.
Han Kuo-yu had won the mayorship seat of Kaohsiung in November 2018, in a surprise win garnering nearly 890,000 votes, even though the southern city had previously been a stronghold for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which had ruled Taiwan for 20 years. However, in January this year, he was unsuccessful in stopping DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen from securing a second term as president of Taiwan. He lost by nearly 3 million votes, as Tsai swept to victory by securing just over 57% of the ballot, a record 8.2 million votes.
Following his loss at the presidential race, Han faced criticism with allegations that he lacked interest in the city, a claim further fueled by a three-month leave of absence he had taken from his mayoral duties to run for president.
The DPP commended the result, calling it an “important milestone in the history of Taiwan’s democratic development”. KMT, on the other hand, expressed remorse over the loss and its performance.
“We did not properly grasp the warmth of Kaohsiung’s citizens, and we did not respond well to the expectations of Kaohsiung’s people.”
Taiwan’s election commission still has to formally approve the decision, expected to take a week. Once it does, Han will be dismissed and a new mayoral election, in which he cannot run, will be called within three months. The recall was motivated by a petition organized by WeCare Kaohsuing, a civic group, which applauded the result.
Before new elections hold, the central government, run by DPP, will have to name an interim mayor. Han’s tenure was expected to expire in December 2022.
