A special election has been scheduled for Jan. 9 to decide whether to recall independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the Central Election Commission announced yesterday.
The date was set after the commission reviewed a petition to recall the lawmaker initiated by Cheng Ta-ping (鄭大平), who collected 38,286 signatures, 27,362 of which have been verified.
To force a recall vote, the campaigners were required to obtain at least 24,475 signatures, or 10 percent of the eligible voters in Lim’s fifth electoral district in Taipei covering Wanhua (萬華) and part of Zhongzheng District (中正).
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The push for a recall came following a domestic COVID-19 outbreak that began in May, with Wanhua being one of the epicenters.
Lim was accused of siding with the central government rather than standing up for his constituents when a government official seemingly tried to absolve the central health authorities of responsibility for the outbreak by saying it originated in Wanhua.
Lim was also criticized when he appeared at a media event in early June with central government officials after an outbreak occurred at Huannan Market, with some people saying that he only visited the market at election time.
Lim said that he was confident he would hold his seat in the legislature, and his focus is on revitalizing Wanhua and Zhongzheng, where Taipei first began to develop.
In addition to holding talks with residents in his constituency ahead of the recall vote, he said he would continue to campaign against the four referendum initiatives to be decided on Dec. 18.
Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Lim would be recalled if at least 25 percent of eligible voters in his district vote in favor, and they outnumber those who vote against it.
The CEC said it would announce the number of eligible voters for the recall election by Jan. 5, after it compiles a list later this month.
Lim, 45, was re-elected with 81,853 votes last year to a second legislative term as an independent, after taking the seat for the opposition New Power Party with 82,650 votes in 2016. His margins of victory ranged between 3 and 4 percent.
Before becoming a politician, he gained international fame as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Chthonic, and was known as a campaigner for Taiwanese independence.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS