TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) survived the recall referendum on Sunday (Jan. 9), as the number of “yes” votes did not pass the threshold to recall him.

According to the Civil Servants Election And Recall Act, a proposal to recall an elected official will be adopted if the number of eligible constituents who vote “yes” is greater than the number who vote “no” and exceeds 25% of the electorate.

According to the Taipei City Election Commission, the number of eligible voters in Lim's district is 235,024. The 54,813 voters who turned out to support his recall fell short of the 58,756 “yes” votes required, the commission reported.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Saturday (Jan. 8) at a rally for Lim that recall referendums must not be used as political weapons.