The recall campaign against Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu is heading to court. Han''s camp has filed a lawsuit asking courts to block the recall campaign, on grounds that it was initiated during the one-year grace period for elected officials. Han is officially suing the Central Election Commission. But he may have to contend with an unexpected party in the courtroom. Campaign activists filed their own lawsuit on Monday, demanding the right to join the case on behalf of the people of Kaohsiung. The four heads of the recall Han campaign went to the Taipei High Administrative Court on Monday to launch a salvo against Han’s camp.Chen Kuang-jungActivistAt first glance, the KMT is using the law – it’s playing the law – against the Central Election Commission. But actually, what it’s really doing is wielding the law as a naked threat against the 560,000 Kaohsiung residents who took part in the petition.Aaron YinWecare Kaohsiung founderWe only began the campaign after Han Kuo-yu announced his presidential bid. After he turned his back on his political duties and abandoned the residents of Kaohsiung. Only after that, did the recall begin. For more than one year now, Han Kuo-yu has tried to fabricate scandals and invent cheating allegations to smear the supporters of our recall campaign.The campaign to recall Han passed its second phase on April 7. The following day, former Kaohsiung Information Bureau head Anne Wang filed a lawsuit on behalf of Han’s camp to stop the recall campaign. Wang contended that the recall campaign had collected more than 7,000 signatures before Dec. 25 of last year. She said this was a violation of the law, which states that recall proposals cannot be filed against an official until after a full year in office.Kao Jung-chihLegal counsel for recall activistsThis law was created so that you would have at least a year after election to do your job as mayor and build a political record. But isn’t the reason for this recall campaign precisely that Mayor Han had no intention of doing that? He betrayed the trust of his constituents.Voice of Anne WangFormer Kaohsiung Information Bureau headDoes it count as jumping the gun for them to launch a series of signature drives and by set up campaign offices? Whether that counts as launching the campaign, or whether the campaign starts only when they submit the signatures – we’ll leave that for the courts to decide in accordance with Article 75 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act.The Central Election Commission will hold a meeting on April 17 to decide whether to authorize a recall vote, which would have to be held within two months.
The recall campaign against Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu is heading to court. Han''s camp has filed a lawsuit asking courts to block the recall campaign, on grounds that it was initiated during the one-year grace period for elected officials. Han is officially suing the Central Election Commission. But he may have to contend with an unexpected party in the courtroom. Campaign activists filed their own lawsuit on Monday, demanding the right to join the case on behalf of the people of Kaohsiung. The four heads of the recall Han campaign went to the Taipei High Administrative Court on Monday to launch a salvo against Han’s camp.Chen Kuang-jungActivistAt first glance, the KMT is using the law – it’s playing the law – against the Central Election Commission. But actually, what it’s really doing is wielding the law as a naked threat against the 560,000 Kaohsiung residents who took part in the petition.Aaron YinWecare Kaohsiung founderWe only began the campaign after Han Kuo-yu announced his presidential bid. After he turned his back on his political duties and abandoned the residents of Kaohsiung. Only after that, did the recall begin. For more than one year now, Han Kuo-yu has tried to fabricate scandals and invent cheating allegations to smear the supporters of our recall campaign.The campaign to recall Han passed its second phase on April 7. The following day, former Kaohsiung Information Bureau head Anne Wang filed a lawsuit on behalf of Han’s camp to stop the recall campaign. Wang contended that the recall campaign had collected more than 7,000 signatures before Dec. 25 of last year. She said this was a violation of the law, which states that recall proposals cannot be filed against an official until after a full year in office.Kao Jung-chihLegal counsel for recall activistsThis law was created so that you would have at least a year after election to do your job as mayor and build a political record. But isn’t the reason for this recall campaign precisely that Mayor Han had no intention of doing that? He betrayed the trust of his constituents.Voice of Anne WangFormer Kaohsiung Information Bureau headDoes it count as jumping the gun for them to launch a series of signature drives and by set up campaign offices? Whether that counts as launching the campaign, or whether the campaign starts only when they submit the signatures – we’ll leave that for the courts to decide in accordance with Article 75 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act.The Central Election Commission will hold a meeting on April 17 to decide whether to authorize a recall vote, which would have to be held within two months.
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