Just days away from critical recall elections that could decide the fate of two dozen opposition Kuomintang lawmakers, prominent business leaders have come out to publicly back the campaigns to oust them.
00:00In just a few days, Taiwan will hold a critical recall vote that could decide the fate of two dozen opposition Kuomintang lawmakers.
00:08Our reporter, Cadence Karanta, has been following the recalls and she joins us live from our newsroom in Taipei.
00:13Cadence, what's the atmosphere like in Taiwan before this crucial vote?
00:20So it's definitely a politically charged atmosphere across Taiwan right now.
00:25This is the largest mass recall movement Taiwan has ever seen.
00:29Thirty one lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang are facing recall votes this summer and 24 of those votes will happen on Saturday.
00:37So it's a really big day. It's only four days away.
00:40So there's been near daily rallies on both sides of the political spectrum, both those in support of ousting these opposition lawmakers and those who want to keep them in office.
00:50They've been out campaigning on the streets.
00:52They've been passing out flyers, flying flags, all in an effort to get as many people out to vote on Saturday as possible.
01:00We've also seen some influential voices from the business community come out in support of these recalls.
01:06One of them was a big Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company called Pegatron.
01:11The head of that company came out in support of the recalls.
01:14This is what he said today about why he joined the fight.
01:17So obviously the KMT is not very happy that someone so influential in the business community has come out in support of the recall campaigns.
01:44So close to an election and one KMT lawmaker that's facing a recall vote this summer said that that is trying to make it clear that there are businesses on the side of the opposition as well.
02:03So this is all part of back and forth between the two sides, both trying to mobilize as many people as possible to get out and vote in their favor on Saturday,
02:13which could be a massive day for the entire political landscape in Taiwan.
02:20Thanks for that update, Cadence.
02:22That was Cadence Caronta live from our newsroom in Taipei.
