Taiwanese voters turned out at schools, churches and community centres to cast their ballot in a high-stakes recall election that could give President Lai Ching-te’s party control of the parliament.
Supporters of Mr Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are seeking to unseat 31 politicians belonging to the main opposition Kuomintang party, who they accuse of being pro-China and a security threat.
The KMT, which wants closer ties with China, controls parliament with the help of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and has slammed the unprecedented recall effort as a power grab.
Polling stations opened around Taiwan at 8am local time (12am Irish time) with 24 KMT politicians facing potential recall. Elections for another seven KMT politicians will be held on 23 August.
Both major parties held rain-soaked rallies in the days leading up to the critical vote, which has dominated Taiwanese politics, newspaper headlines and social media feeds for months.
While Mr Lai won the presidential election in 2024, his DPP party lost its majority in parliament.
Since then, the KMT and TPP have joined forces to stymie Mr Lai’s agenda, and slashed or frozen parts of the government’s budget.
Contentious opposition bills, including an attempt to expand parliament’s powers, sparked brawls in the legislature and massive street protests – and spurred civic groups to launch the recall campaign.
The DPP needs a minimum of 12 KMT politicians recalled to gain temporary control of the parliament, with risk analysis firm Eurasia Group giving that outcome “a 60% probability”.
Mr Lai’s party would then need to flip six seats in by-elections later this year to cement its dominance in the 113-seat parliament – which analysts say would be a formidable challenge.
Whatever the result of the recall and by-elections, analyst Lev Nachman said political divisions in Taiwan were certain to deepen.
“The way that the recalls have played out have been perhaps some of the most divisive language used towards both camps that I think I’ve ever seen,” Mr Nachman, a political scientist and long-time observer of Taiwan, told AFP.
China looms large
China has loomed large over the recall vote, with Taiwan warning of “visible evidence” that China was trying to interfere in the process.
China claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.
For a KMT politician to lose their seat, the number of votes in favour of recalling them must exceed those against and also be more than 25% of the total number of registered voters in the electorate.
Turnout will be critical and both sides have been lobbying their supporters for weeks to get out to vote before polling stations close.
