TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Campaigners were out in force on the streets of Keelung for the last day of canvassing ahead of Sunday’s (Oct. 13) recall vote targeting Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑).

The campaign started in March amid a dispute between the mayor and a prominent retail chain about ownership of a shopping mall in the port city. Hsieh, a member of the Kuomintang (KMT), became the target of a recall action that eventually collected the number of signatures required to put his fate on the ballot.

The recall will only be approved if at least 77,700 voters, or one-quarter of all eligible voters, agree, and if there are more votes in favor than against the recall, per CNA. The voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the result seen as a test of the opposition KMT’s popularity.

During the final days of the campaign, leading party members, including Chair Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), appeared with Hsieh in the city, visiting temples or joining motorcades. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) campaigned with Hsieh on Saturday (Oct. 12), attracting special attention because he was the focus of a rare successful recall as mayor of Kaohsiung in 2020.

The organizers of the vote against Hsieh have accused him of incompetence and mismanagement since taking office in December 2022. 

His predecessor as Keelung mayor, Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), said Saturday that if Hsieh had governed well, there would have been no recall vote, but he had broken too many promises, per CNA. Lin now serves as the secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).