Kaohsiung Residents Recalled Han Kuo-yu and Also Tried the DPP
United Daily News, June 7, 2020
By the strong mobilization of the so-called “National Team to Recall Han”, the Kaohsiung residents yesterday approved the recall initiative to vote mayor Han Kuo-yu out of office by more than 900,000 votes. Han had won the mayoral election by obtaining 890,000 votes just a year and half ago.
There are three important takeaways: First, the recall votes far exceeded the threshold number of 570,000, indicating that the Kaohsiung residents have not forgiven Han for running for president not long after he won the mayoral election. Second, the recall voting rate was only 42 percent, it can be seen as a trial on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that the Kaohsiung residents were not satisfied with DPP’s political manipulation. Third, the Han team and the Kuomintang (KMT) had adopted a passive strategy that avoided the fight, which was proven to be wrong and unwise.
Two years ago, Han single-handedly conquered Kaohsiung where the DPP had held for 20 years. His victory was fiery and explosive. Regrettably he had not fulfilled his many visions of developments and begun running for president after less than half a year. Many Kaohsiung residents were disappointed that he had lightly broken his promises. It can be seen that no matter how brave and powerful a politician is, he or she cannot ignore the promises made to the voters. Han is the first municipal head to be recalled and has to step down, leaving an embarrassing page on political history.
On the surface, this recall initiative was started by civic groups, but the interventions and manipulations by the central government were everywhere, so the ruling DPP did not win gloriously at all. For example, the Election and Recall Law stipulates that public officials cannot be recalled within one year after taking office, but the recall initiative of Han was started long before the legal period. The reason for recall was not that Han had violated the law or abused his power, it was a vengeful political mobilization. The Central Election Commission has once and again failed to do its duties, ignoring executive neutrality and procedural justice. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, and Ministry of Education have helped the recall campaign. President Tsai Ing-wen issued the attack order at DPP’s Central Committee, encouraging the climax of the so-called “National Team to Recall Han” to garner more than 900,000 votes.
Even so, the voting rate of the recall was only 42 percent, and more than 1.3 million Kaohsiung residents did not participate. This means that the majority of the residents did not identify with the recall, their abstentions can be seen as a political trial on the DPP, knowing the recall voting was an undemocratic political massacre. According to the original Election and Recall Law, the voting rate to pass the recall was 50 percent, but the DPP had led the change to eliminate this threshold four years ago, so Han’s recall could not have been successful under the old law. Han’s recall is about his personal honor or infamy, but the elimination of the recall threshold makes it easier to manipulate the public opinion and renders the democracy more fragile.
To examine the attacks and defenses of the recall process, while the DPP has used all best measures by the so-called “National Team to Recall Han”, the Han team and the KMT have adopted the low-profile defense that avoided direct confrontation with Han’s opponents, and the Han team even urged its supporters not to vote. From any angle, the strategy of avoiding fighting was wrong. The DPP is rapacious in nature, it will destroy its enemies totally. When facing this kind of opponent, the KMT thought that it could avoid death by maintaining low-profile and passivity, but the party’s approach was too naive and can even be called foolish.
When Han campaigned for the mayor single-handedly, he was fearless and challenged difficulties everywhere, so he won the approval of the Kaohsiung residents. When facing the recall, Han had become submissive and did nothing to defend. When the fighting Han become a silent and withdrawn person, the Kaohsiung residents were disappointed. Under these circumstances, Han lost the opportunity to defend himself, and the KMT lost the opportunity to defend democracy. Not a single scandal case of former mayor Chen Chu was uncovered and Han has to step down. This is worthless and Han has not left even a shadow. Han was recalled without any struggle. Can he be so humble to leave the political arena?
Although Han can file a lawsuit against the election commission or the recall organizers to claim the recall is not valid, yet as the approval votes far exceeded the recall threshold, the lawsuit would be meaningless. It is wrong to say that the recall is a “victory of democracy” as claimed by the DPP. This vote is tantamount to an overtime game of the presidential election. When Han lost the presidential election, the recall has become a political bonus of the DPP. Especially when the DPP used its total administrative power to nakedly order mobilization to recall Han, the voting has become a political battle and not a vote on the satisfaction of the mayor’s performance.
The Kaohsiung residents should feel most puzzled. The successful recall of Han will let them to the previous era, that is, the old and poor situation they wanted to abandon one and half years ago.