TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A citizens' group announced it passed the first stage of a recall vote of Keelung KMT Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) and will commence the second stage, the collection of 50,000 signatures, on May 11. 

The citizens' group named “Shanhai Citizen’s Movement to Take Down Liang (山海公民拆樑行動)” began its recall campaign on April 8 and submitted 3,436 signatures to the Central Election Committee (CEC) for review.  A group spokesperson, Li Yan-rong (李晏蓉), said they received an official document from the CEC on Friday (May 3) indicating the passage of the first stage.

Li said the second stage would be similar to the first phase, with a physical location where voters sign a petition and a website to download and print a form to be mailed to their office. Li encouraged all Keelung citizens to come together for the recall of Keelung KMT Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑).

Li also responded to public criticism that her group had taped promotional material on the gates of communities. Li said the recall team would not affect public spaces without prior authorization. 

Furthermore, Li said a recall vote is a basic right of citizens granted by the constitution. The recall draws attention to the inaction and controversial policies of the Keelung City Government, she said. 

Keelung government spokesperson Lu Ching-wei (呂謦煒) said the city government is unaffected by external influences and will focus on municipal administration, per CNA. Hsieh has been the target of a recall vote due to allegations of mismanagement and strong-handed measures to turn over the proprietorship of E-Square Mall from NET to the Breeze Group.

According to the provisions of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act, the first stage of the recall involves collecting signatures from more than 1% of the total number of electors within an electoral district. According to CEC statistics, the number of voters in the 2022 Keelung mayoral election was 307,913, so a minimum of 3,080 signatures was needed.

The second stage requires signatures from more than 10% of the total voters within the original electoral district. Therefore, at least 30,792 people must sign to meet the requirements of the second stage of the recall.

As for the third and final step in the recall, the total number of “yes” votes needs to outweigh the “no” votes, with the final number of “yes” votes exceeding one-fourth of the number of voters in the district. If these conditions are met, the recall will go into effect.