《TAIPEI TIMES》 Keelung mayor recall hits threshold

STRUGGLE FOR KEELUNG: The KMT would organize a task force in the coming days to deal with the recall challenge, party Secretary-General Justin Huang said

By Weng Yu-huang And Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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A campaign to recall Keelung Mayor George Hsieh （謝國樑） of the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） has garnered 36,000 signatures, passing the signature threshold required to initiate a recall vote, campaign spokeswoman Lee Yen-jung （李晏蓉） said yesterday.

The petition to hold a recall counted 36,000 signatures as of Friday, more than the 30,792 needed for the proposition to go forward, she said.

To make room for clerical errors, organizers aim to obtain 40,000 signatures before submitting the petition on Friday next week to the Keelung City Election Commission, she said.

The Keelung City Election Commission should be fair and unbiased in examining the petition, she said, adding that the electorate’s right to decide should be respected.

The Public Officials Election and Recall Act （公職人員選舉罷免法） stipulates that a recall election process for the mayor of an administrative region can be initiated if at least 10 percent of the jurisdiction’s voters signed a petition for it.

The election commission is responsible for evaluating the list of signatories and removing invalid signatures from the count within 40 days of the petition’s submission, the act stipulates.

Should the final count of signatures be lower than the legal limit, the commission is to return the petition to proponents and give them 10 days to make up the difference, it said.

If enough valid signatures are collected, a recall vote should be held in 20 to 60 days, the act stipulates.

The Keelung City Government estimated that if the petition is valid, a recall election would be held between September and December.

KMT Secretary-General Justin Huang （黃健庭） said the party in the coming days would organize a task force to deal with the recall challenge.

KMT Chairman Eric Chu （朱立倫） said that Hsieh is being targeted because he offended the Democratic Progressive Party’s interests.

The campaign to oust the mayor is disruptive to Keelung, Chu said.

Taiwan should avoid political struggles that could harm social harmony and prosperity, he added.

Additional reporting by Chou Ming-hung and Shih Hsiao-kuang

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES