Taiwan Foundation Legislator Chen Baiwei. (Picture source: Video screenshots from Zhongshi News Network)
[Comprehensive News from Qiaobao.com] Taichung The 2nd constituency of Taiwan’s Foundation Progressive Party Legislator Chen Baiwei was voted on on the 23rd. The vote counting results of the Taiwan authorities’ election authority showed that, 77,899 voters voted to approve the recall. The number of votes exceeded the recall threshold and exceeded the number of disapproving votes, and the recall bill was passed. Chen Baiwei became the first legislator to be recalled under Taiwan's new election and recall law.
The election meeting will review the results of the recall vote next week.
Taipei Zhongshi News Network reported that on the day of the election meeting, it was pointed out that the total number of voters in the 10th Taichung City 2nd District Legislator Chen Baiwei's recall case was 294,976, and the number of voters was 152,567. , the turnout rate was 51.72%, with 151,332 valid votes, of which 77,899 votes were approved for recall, accounting for 51.48%; 73,433 votes were disagreed with, accounting for 48.52%, and 1,235 invalid votes were cast.
The Central Election Commission stated that the results of the recall vote showed that the number of valid votes for approval was more than the number of votes for disapproval, and the number of votes for approval reached more than a quarter of the total number of electors in the original electoral district. The result of the vote for Chen Baiwei's recall was passed.
The Election Committee will hold a committee meeting on the 28th to review the results of the recall vote.
Chen Baiwei is the first legislator of Taiwan’s Foundation Progressive Party and has caused many controversies since entering politics. He once encouraged Taiwan's foreign affairs department to establish a "China Department", proposed inviting Hong Kong people to serve as soldiers in Taiwan, expressed his support for the import of U.S. pigs in a live broadcast on social platforms, and praised the deliciousness of pigs' honey ham .
In October this year, some media people broke the news that Chen Baiwei had hit and injured someone with his car 10 years ago and fled immediately. He did not confess until the police reviewed the surveillance camera. He was eventually sentenced to 9 months in prison and 3 years of probation by the court. After the hit-and-run case was uncovered, netizens discovered that Chen Baiwei was involved in another gambling case in his early years. Later, the recall group broke the news that Chen Baiwei had omitted to report a business investment of NT$200,000 and suspected that his property declaration was false. However, he argued that it was a "momentary mistake."
On February 1 this year, civil society organizations initiated the recall of Chen Baiwei. The reasons for the dismissal include Chen Baiwei’s lack of interest in local service, repeated delays in promising political opinions, support for the import of "Lai pig", absurd speeches and stereotypes, and will only deliberately "reduce his reputation" when faced with doubts. Split ethnic groups.
Zhu Lilun The Kuomintang regained control and won its first battle.
The blue and green parties also joined in, making this recall battle attract the attention of the whole Taiwan. Kuomintang Chairman Zhu Lilun said that Chen Baiwei's recall case is only about right and wrong, and called on all local people to come out and vote. The green camp has also stepped up its deployment. Tsai Ing-wen recently expressed strong support for Chen Baiwei at the Central Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party, claiming that she did not want Chen to become a "victim" in the political struggle.
Niu Zexun, a professor at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei and a current affairs commentator, analyzed in an interview with a reporter from the Hong Kong China News Agency on the 23rd that there were several reasons for the passing of the recall bill. First of all, Chen Baiwei has been controversial since he was elected as a legislator. He has always adhered to the "anti-China and Taiwan" ideology , but has neglected to serve voters. After the recall war, Cheng and Chen Baiwei's strategy of playing the "suffering card" also had little effect. The second is the strong mobilization of the Kuomintang. This was the first major political event that Zhu Lilun faced after taking office as the chairman of the Kuomintang. Whether he could be successfully recalled was regarded as a key battle to test Zhu Lilun's leadership. Zhu Ziran paid special attention to the success or failure of the recall. Coupled with the strong political strength of the Yan family in Taichung and solid local management, the party central and local governments jointly organized and mobilized effectively.
Niu Zexun continued that the competitive relationship between "big green" and "little green" also affected this election. If Chen Baiwei fails to be dismissed, his momentum will increase and he will become an important political figure in Taichung. His ability to ask for money from the DPP will be greatly improved, which will impact the local political power ecology of Green Camp; but if he still has the full support of the DPP, Being removed from office will affect Tsai Ing-wen's voice in power and will also be detrimental to the green camp's subsequent election layout. Various concerns make the DPP's support for Chen Baiwei only superficial.
With the passing of the recall bill, Zhu Lilun won his first victory after regaining control of the Kuomintang, which will help consolidate his leadership position within the party. Niu Zexun said that as the KMT chairman with the lowest vote rate since the direct election and the first "weak" party chairman who was not elected by more than half, Zhu Lilun also has "referendum" cases such as "anti-laizhu" at the end of the year, "referendum tied to the general election" and next year. local elections and other levels.Only by winning every battle, accumulating political energy step by step, and establishing leadership legitimacy can the possibility of considering the 2024 election be considered. For Zhu Lilun, who advocates "no 2022, no 2024," there is no chance of losing.
This electoral district must complete the by-election within 3 months, and the by-election is expected to be held at the end of January next year. The Kuomintang has once again had the opportunity to regain its lost territory and will propose strong candidates. The Democratic Progressive Party said it would not rule out recruitment, and the People's Party also stated that it would not be absent.
New Party: Hope that all representatives of the people will pay more attention to public opinion from now on.
Xiamen " Strait Herald " reported that the New Party issued a statement on the evening of the 23rd local time, saying that as the first political party to initiate the recall of Chen Baiwei, it is gratified and hopes that all representatives of public opinion will pay more attention to public opinion from now on. We can all pay more attention to public opinion and conduct good governance.
The New Party said that on June 10 last year, the New Party took the lead in initiating the removal of the incompetent "Taiwan Foundation" democratic representative Chen Baiwei. Later, Chen Baiwei cooperated with the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to open up the import of pigs, block additional purchases of internationally certified vaccines, and provide labor protection during the epidemic. With the proposal of the right of retreat during the period, and even after the past hit-and-run scandal was uncovered, the local government became more and more dissatisfied with Chen Baiwei's incompetence, and the enthusiasm for his dismissal increased.
has now passed the recall. The new party is happy to see such a result. This means that politicians in Taiwan will no longer be able to ignore public opinion and act arbitrarily after being elected. The New Party calls on all public opinion representatives to learn lessons and conduct politics properly, otherwise Chen Baiwei will never be the last legislator to be dismissed. (End)
