Dismal failure in two rounds of votes to recall opposition lawmakers, along with futile referendum, amounts to repudiation of governance
Once is a mistake, twice is a choice. In less than a month, Taiwan’s William Lai Ching-te and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have suffered a double blow with two rounds of recall votes against 31 legislators from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT). Not a single one was recalled. In the latest round against the remaining seven, it wasn’t even close: votes against the seven recalls ranged between 64.48 per cent and 69.28 per cent.
Lai and the DPP claim the recalls were justified because the opposition majority in the legislature formed by the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) was obstructing government policies, especially its budget bills. It turns out the island’s voters are perfectly fine with it.
The so-called summer of recalls has wasted precious public resources and energy when ordinary Taiwanese fret about stagnant wages, inadequate housing and the state of the economy. The weekend referendum, on extending the operational life of the island’s last nuclear power plant, is another initiative Lai failed to deliver on.
