Kaohsiung to vote on recall motion against mayor Han Kuo-yu

KAOHSIUNG - On Saturday (June 6), Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu will find out what becomes of his mayorship - his political career, even - in a recall vote open to Kaohsiung residents.

Mr Han has faced a recall before: He was one of four Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers whom Taipei residents voted to recall for supporting the construction of the island's fourth nuclear power plant. All four motions were unsuccessful.

Taiwan's track record for recall elections might indicate a positive outcome for Mr Han on Saturday, because no legislator, municipal mayor or county magistrate has ever been removed from position since Taiwanese citizens could vote in recall votes starting in 1975.

But this time, a good number of people seemed to have changed their minds about Mr Han.

"His decision to run for president really turned off a lot of voters in Kaohsiung. Before the presidential election, there was a vast amount of anti-Han sentiment in Kaohsiung," said Professor Shelley Rigger, the Brown Professor of East Asian Politics at Davidson College in the United States.

The Covid-19 outbreak appeared to have successfully diverted the attention from Mr Han at first, but "I think it's looking pretty likely that he will be recalled", said Prof Rigger.

"But (the outbreak) is so well controlled in Taiwan, the voter turnout might just be high enough to have a valid result - then it's very likely to go against him."

The recall effort has so far been spearheaded by WeCare Kaohsiung, a civilian group that collected the signatures needed for Mr Han's recall petition to be approved.

According to the group, the citizens are pushing to remove the Kuomintang mayor primarily because he had abandoned the city he promised to serve, after barely a year in office, to run for president.

In addition, Mr Han was accused of failing to deliver on his campaign promises to make improvements in Kaohsiung.

"There are hardly any Taiwanese politicians who can keep 100 per cent of their promises, but Han Kuo-yu must be the first in the Republic of China's history to break all of his promises," said WeCare Kaohsiung founder Aaron Yin on Wednesday.

On May 5, however, Mr Han released a statement through the Central Election Commission, listing some 15 goals he and his administration had achieved during his time in office, including pushing for investment to increase jobs for Kaohsiung and boosting the tourism industry in the city.

While he has kept a low profile since he lost the presidential election, he posted a video on Facebook on May 15 calling for his supporters to refrain from voting on Saturday.

"Democracy means to respect diversity and embrace freedom. We have the right and ways to express our opinions, we are not radical nor opposing. (I'm asking) the friends who support Han Kuo-yu to not vote on June 6, nor participate in any political activities," said Mr Han, adding that the video might be the "last time" he addressed Kaohsiung citizens as mayor.

A simple majority is needed to pass a recall motion in Taiwan, with a voter turnout of at least 25 per cent for the vote to be valid. There are 2,299,981 eligible voters in Kaohsiung.

What if Mr Han gets recalled from his mayorship? "At the end of this particular journey, it would mean he turned out to be a dead end rather than a way forward (for the KMT)," said Prof Rigger, who added that it would be unlikely that the party would continue cultivating Mr Han for future elections.

"There was a moment in 2018 when it seemed that he would offer a new beginning for the KMT. He was someone with more popular appeal, saying something new and different from the traditional KMT approach to politics, and after the 2018 elections there was a lot of optimism that this could be a new beginning," Prof Rigger said.

"But then the presidential elections turned out very differently from expectations; people were not enthusiastic about him running for president."