Campaigners Battle for Support in Final Rallies Before Recall Votes

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan's unprecedented lawmaker recall movement is reaching a pivotal moment. Supporters of the recalls express hopes for changes before Saturday's critical votes, while opponents criticize the mass recalls as undemocratic.

Transcript

00:00Taiwan Plus has two reporters at those final rallies.

00:03Tiffany Wong is at one in Taipei in support of the recalls.

00:07Tiffany, what's it looking like out there?

00:12Hi, Eric. This is the very last rally in support of those campaigns

00:16to remove 24 Kuomintang lawmakers before it all comes to a vote tomorrow.

00:21And the energy is ramping up here.

00:23We're just meters away from Taiwan's legislature,

00:26which is exactly what's at stake here.

00:28Now, tonight we've been seeing performances, some speeches

00:31from those supporting the recall campaigns and campaigners themselves.

00:36And some of the themes that we're noticing are the need to protect Taiwan's democracy

00:41as well as protect Taiwan from China's influence.

00:45And these are some of the themes uniting, connecting the campaigns all across Taiwan.

00:51Earlier today, we spoke with some people at this rally who say that they're hopeful

00:55that their votes tomorrow will change the makeup of Taiwan's legislature.

00:59Just a reminder that the Kuomintang is the largest party in the legislature

01:29by allying with a smaller opposition, Taiwan People's Party.

01:33And this has stopped the ruling Democratic Progressive Party

01:35from passing major legislation in the past year

01:38as well as blocking some controversial opposition-proposed legislature.

01:43Now, if at least six KMT lawmakers are removed and replaced with DPP lawmakers,

01:49this could change the balance of power in Taiwan's legislature.

01:53And this has been a months-long movement to reshape the legislature.

01:58And people here say that tomorrow, rain or shine,

02:02they're going to show up to the polls and make sure their votes count.

02:07Thanks for that update, Tiffany.

02:09Now we turn to Leslie Liao, who was at the KMT rally just a few blocks away.

02:14Leslie, how are things where you are?

02:15Eric, you'll have to excuse the noise for a little bit.

02:21Legislative Speaker Han Gory is speaking right now on stage.

02:26We're in the latter half of this KMT rally,

02:28right before the pivotal recall vote in Taiwan.

02:31And it's been overshadowed by poor weather,

02:34but that hasn't stopped people from coming out and participating.

02:38Organizers have said that at least 60,000 people are here today.

02:41That's a number I can't independently verify,

02:44but certainly there are thousands of people here.

02:47As I see many rain ponchos and a few umbrellas out here,

02:51people are sticking it in the rain and attending this rally.

02:56The anti-recall camps are out here in full force.

02:59They're raising signs and chanting slogans, as you can hear right now.

03:04One of the main messages we're hearing today is

03:06the KMT wants its supporters to go out and vote.

03:10No matter the weather, just go out and vote.

03:13The KMT is coming down hard on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party,

03:17calling the recall against their KMT lawmakers undemocratic.

03:21There's also calls for President Lai Ching-de to step down,

03:25including from former President Ma Ying-jeou.

03:28Let's take a look at what he said.

03:29KMT Customs

03:54That's definitely the Taiwan society

03:57沉浪

03:58Now while you were listening to that quote

04:01the organisers just said that

04:03they say 100,000 people are here

04:05again I cannot independently verify that number

04:08but that's what the organisers are saying

04:10we are seeing large crowds

04:11To wrap up the KMT's main message here tonight

04:14is go out and vote

04:16whether wind or rain

04:17go out and vote

04:19it seems like the KMT

04:20is trying to overcome the poor weather forecast

04:23and drive up the voter turnout rate

04:25Back to you Eric

04:26Thanks Leslie

04:29We will hear more from Leslie and Tiffany tomorrow

04:31during our live coverage of the recalls

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