A group of educators is leading a nationwide effort to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.
“We have commenced a recall drive to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi, who heads the pro-China forces in the legislature, and Fu’s deputies and main KMT figures who are trying to dismantle our democratic institutions in an obvious ploy to collaborate with Beijing and assist China in taking over Taiwan,” Central Taiwan Association of University Professors director Yang Tsung-rong (楊聰榮) accused at a news conference yesterday.
Yang said the group has already obtained more than 3,000 signatures from school teachers and educators angered by the actions of Fu, the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party in the Legislative Yuan, such as by passing amendments to legislation to “impair the functioning” of the government and Constitutional Court.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Commenting on the their actions, Cheng Cheng-ping (鄭政秉), a professor of finance at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, said: “We are seeing turmoil in political circles. If the situation continues, it will result in a very serious crisis in Taiwan’s economy and national security with China annexing Taiwan. If that happens, we would no longer have freedom and democracy.”
Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫), an academic and Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy director, said: “Fu has led the KMT in amending statutes to raise the threshold to recall councilors and legislators. They are taking away people’s right to oust unsuitable politicians. It is absurd that after Fu and his party members were elected, they amended the law to deny citizens the right to oust him through a recall.”
The recall drive’s statement said: “We are proud of Taiwan’s economic strength and other achievements the world has seen in recent years. However, we are now facing a real crisis from China’s meddling in Taiwan’s legislature.”
“We are worried by those developments, but fortunately, many courageous Taiwanese are standing up across our nation to launch recall drives to oust Fu and his fellow pro-China legislators... We are inviting citizens to sign up for this effort, to oust unsuitable legislators. We must do so without fear,” it said.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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