Landslide rejection of recall votes in Taiwan highlights public disapproval of DPP authorities

TAIPEI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The failure of a recall vote against opposition legislators in Taiwan on Saturday, together with a similar failed one last month, signals widespread public dissatisfaction with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The results have reflected the latest public sentiment in Taiwan -- a strong rejection of the DPP's policies of indulging in political maneuvers and ignoring people's well-being as well as its attempts to seek "Taiwan independence," said observers, calling the outcome a total failure for the party.

The message is clear: Taiwan society is calling for efforts to prioritize public welfare and well-being and strengthen cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation.

Saturday's recall vote against legislators from the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party came a few weeks after the first round on July 26, which targeted 24 KMT legislators and the suspended mayor of Hsinchu, where none of the proposals received more votes in favor than against.

The United Daily News called the two rounds of failed DPP recall campaigns "a vote of no confidence" in political infighting under Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te. "Voter aversion has reached new heights," it wrote.

Zheng Zhenqing, vice director of the Institute for Taiwan Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said Lai's recall campaigns were indiscriminate political offensives, and as such, it has failed to gain support among residents in Taiwan.

Lai's rhetorics during the campaigns were widely seen as fostering hatred, fanning secession, and suppressing dissidents, Zheng added.

Bao Chengke, a researcher at an institute for East Asia studies in Shanghai, said the landslide failure of the DPP authorities in Saturday's recall vote reflects a release of public grievances built up during the first round of recall campaign.

Shan Hou-zhi, a senior media figure in Taiwan, noted that Lai's narrative of confronting the mainland in defense of Taiwan has taken on a negative tone following the recall campaigns. The DPP and Lai have become emblematic of those out of step with mainstream public opinion.

The DPP continues to hype the so-called threat and infiltration from the mainland, but their governance has been chaotic, said Zheng.

"Alongside judicial politicization and instances of embezzlement and corruption, this has left the majority of the public feeling alienated by its line of confronting the mainland, which is widely seen as driven purely by a secessionist ideology," he added.

In its Sunday editorial, the China Times warned that if Lai and the DPP continue to dig in and push Taiwan toward hatred and confrontation, disregard public opinion, and refuse to adjust their energy policies and cross-Strait strategies, the landslide failures in the recall campaigns would be only a prelude to further public pushback.

The public opinion is clear: people reject political maneuvers framed as "confronting the mainland to defend Taiwan," and instead hope the authorities will focus on economic growth, livelihoods, and cross-Strait relations, said Bao.

"They expect more exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait, pursue peaceful development, and aspire to live stable and prosperous lives," he said.

　　If the DPP authorities continue to ignore the demands of the Taiwan people and pursue separatism, he warned, they will face more waves of public opposition and may accelerate their political downfall.