CIVICUS discusses Taiwan’s unprecedented citizen-led recall campaign against opposition politicians with Leah Lin, Executive Director and founder of the Asia Citizen Future Association (ACFA), which promotes collaboration between Taiwanese and Southeast Asian civil society, supports civil society and advocates for civic space protections.
A politically divided government emerged from Taiwan’s January 2024 general election, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holding the presidency and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) controlling parliament. The KMT-TPP alliance implemented controversial legislative measures and imposed sweeping budget cuts, impacting on civil society working on culture and education. This was followed by a citizen-led initiative to recall 31 KMT parliamentarians, on the basis that the cuts, particularly to broad areas of administrative spending and national defence, undermined national security and the state’s ability to function.
