Signature-Forging Accusatations Deepen Partisan Rift as Recall Movement Heats Up

TaiwanPlus News

Partisan feelings are running high amid accusations several ongoing recall campaigns used forged signatures. The Central Election Commission says of the 61 recall petitions it received, 41 include either forged or the so-called "ghost" signatures.

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00:00A political storm is sweeping the country, centered on petition-counting booths like

00:04this one.

00:05The ruling and opposition blocs are targeting each other's lawmakers with mass recall campaigns.

00:11But prosecutors say a campaign to recall two ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers

00:16for the city of Kaohsiung used forged signatures to boost its petition numbers.

00:21This man, campaign leader Xu Xiangxian, is in detention over the alleged forgeries.

00:26And one of the lawmakers his campaign targeted says there are likely more people responsible

00:31for the fake signatures behind the scenes.

00:46But Xu Xiangxian's father says the forgery accusations were groundless to begin with.

00:51The case in Kaohsiung is just one of several recall petitions being investigated for allegedly

01:17fake signatures.

01:18As prosecutors continue their probes, the coming days look to be even stormier in the political

01:23arena as both blocs prepare for battle.

01:27The opposition Kuomintang's chair, Eric Zhu, has vowed unity with its smaller opposition

01:31partner, the Taiwan People's Party, with a two-party summit scheduled for Tuesday.

01:36And it also plans a Taipei rally of its own on Saturday, following a rival rally backed by

01:51the DPP over this past weekend.

01:53The DPP is condemning the plans, but not stepping back.

01:59With no signs of de-escalation, a full-on battle of the parties looks more and more likely, an unprecedented

02:26showdown that could take down many political careers and upend the legislature.

02:31John Tsu and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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