HIT LIST:The DPP has not yet decided which KMT lawmakers to recall, but is happy to collaborate with the TSU on the issue, the party spokesperson said
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) will collaborate with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in any bid to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said yesterday.
“The TSU is ready to launch the first phase of a recall plan for KMT lawmakers who have ignored the voice of the people and only follow Ma’s instructions,” Huang told a press conference, adding that his party’s eventual goal is to recall Ma.
Following DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) announcement of a plan to recall lawmakers and Ma, Huang said he wanted to meet Su to try to form an alliance.
“These lawmakers only care about protecting Ma and the KMT government and forget what being a lawmaker is all about. They are ‘blocks’ on the road that need to be removed before we can recall the president,” Huang said.
Huang said he would meet representatives of various civic groups to exchange views on which KMT lawmakers should be recalled.
The TSU has collected more than 220,000 signatures in a bid to recall Ma, but recalling KMT lawmakers is a prerequisite because the president’s removal must be proposed by at least a quarter of the legislature and agreed to by at least two-thirds of members before passing a national referendum, Huang said.
The TSU launched its recall bid because voters can legally exercise their right to recall legislators beginning on Feb. 1 — after the lawmakers have completed one year of their terms, Huang said.
KMT lawmakers who went against mainstream opinion on the US beef import controversy, proposals related to the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), and protests against media monopolization would be on the TSU’s “recommendation list” for recalls, he said.
The DPP has not decided which KMT lawmakers it would attempt to recall, but would be pleased to collaborate with the TSU on the initiative, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
DPP Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) is scheduled to brief the party’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday about the recall, Lin said, adding that a “recall list” is unlikely to be submitted before the Lunar New Year.