Campaigns to remove 34 lawmakers from Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang have advanced to the second stage of the recall process. Campaigners are seeking the support of 10% of constituents in each legislator's voting district to move closer to removal.
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00:00Taiwan's great recall movement continues, with dozens of opposition lawmakers now one
00:05step closer to getting voted out.
00:07Tiffany Wong joins us live from the legislature in Taipei.
00:10Tiffany, where do these recall campaigns stand?
00:17As of Wednesday, there are campaigns to remove 34 legislators, all from the cantee, that
00:23have moved forward in the recall process.
00:26That means they passed the first stage of getting 1% of voters' signatures in their
00:31constituency to support these campaigns.
00:35These have all been verified by the Central Election Commission.
00:38There are four other campaigns against ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers that
00:43have not yet passed that first stage.
00:45However, they've been given extra time to remedy some signatures and paperwork in their
00:50petitions.
00:52These campaigners have started to move forward in the second stage of the recall process,
00:59especially in Taipei and New Taipei City, trying to get the signatures of 10% of constituents
01:06in their districts to succeed in this second stage of the recall process.
01:11This is a massive recall movement that was spurred by the ruling Democratic Progressive
01:16Party's frustrations at not being able to pass any bills in the legislature because
01:22they've been blocked by the opposition.
01:24And the DPP caucus whip called for a crusade against opposition lawmakers, which eventually
01:31spurred recall campaigns against 50 lawmakers across parties.
01:37But as I said earlier, only 30-something campaigns against KMT lawmakers have so far made it
01:43past the very first stage.
01:47So you said these recall motions just made it to the second stage.
01:51How likely is it that these lawmakers will lose their seats?
01:56Well, recalls are still a really difficult process in Taiwan.
02:01Only one lawmaker has ever been successfully removed in this manner before.
02:06And that 10% requirement in the second stage is no easy feat.
02:11And the election officials will definitely be looking closely at the signatures and paperwork
02:16here.
02:17So it is possible that some of the campaigns will end at this second stage.
02:23But if there are any that move forward into the third and final process, that is when
02:27these officials' status will officially be put to a vote.
02:33And campaigners will need the support of 25% of voters in their district to successfully
02:39remove these officials.
02:42But that is also a huge task in Taiwan because there's no such thing as absentee voting here.
02:48People have to return to their hometowns and physically hand in the ballots in person to
02:54submit their vote.
02:56And this whole process will take months.
02:58If any of them even make it to that stage, we're not likely to see any voting until the
03:03fall.
03:04But until then, these campaigns will definitely keep legislators on edge.