Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday survived a recall election in Taipei’s fifth electoral district after the tally of votes in favor of the recall fell short of the required threshold.
With 235,024 people eligible to vote yesterday, Lim would have been ousted if one-quarter of them, or 58,756, had backed the recall motion and if more voters were in favor of the recall than against it.
In the end, 54,813 voters supported the recall initiative, or about 56 percent, while 43,340 opposed it, according to unofficial Taipei City Election Commission figures for all 218 polling stations.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Voter turnout was 41.93 percent, not high enough to reach the number of votes needed to oust Lim from the Legislative Yuan.
The push for a recall followed a local COVID-19 outbreak that began in May, with Wanhua District (萬華), which Lim represents, at the center of the surge.
Lim was criticized for siding with the central government rather than his constituents when an official tried to absolve the central health authorities of responsibility for the outbreak by saying that it originated in Wanhua (萬華).
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Lim also took heat for appearing with central government officials at a Huannan Market (環南市場) news conference after an outbreak there and was accused of showing little concern for the market except at election time or for a photo op.
Lim, 45, was re-elected as an independent to a second legislative term in 2020 with 81,853 votes and a margin of victory of 3 percentage points.
As a New Power Party candidate in 2016, he won his first term as legislator with 82,650 votes and a margin of victory of 4 percentage points.
Before becoming a politician, he gained fame as the lead vocalist of the metal band Chthonic and was known as an advocate for Taiwanese independence.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS