Why does Taiwan keep a “great summons” vote? | Election news

Taiwan’s opposition to the opposition of Kuomintang (KMT) at a moment of crisis, as nearly two -thirds of legislators risk losing their jobs through a collective referendum.

Starting at the end of this week, voters in 31 provinces in Taiwan will increase whether they want to keep parliament members or remove their members.

“The Great Summon”, as it was called locally, is the largest vote of its kind in the history of Taiwan, and depending on the results, KMT may cost its majority alliance in the country’s legislative body.

The result will determine the tone of local policy in Taiwan over the next three years, and it is the ability of President William Lay Cheng T government to act on major issues, such as defense spending.

When will the summons elections be held?

On Saturday, qualified voters can participate in calling votes for 24 km of legislators, followed by the second round of voting for seven kilos of legislators in late August.

The summons was called after a wave of successful petitions earlier this year. Under the election laws in Taiwan, the organizers must secure signatures of 10 percent of the province’s voters to hold a summons.

In order for the vote to succeed, 25 percent of the voters registered in each boycott must be made, and the summons must take more votes in their favor.

If the voters choose to remember one of the legislators, sub -elections should be held within three months.

The traditional KMT stronghold is located in the north of the country, especially around the capital, Taipei, but remember that the voices will be held throughout Taiwan this weekend.

KMT 52 out of 113 seats won the legislative body in 2024, with the Popular Taiwan Party and two independent legislators, carrying the majority coalition of 62 seats.

This alliance was strong enough to prevent the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which holds 51 seats, and stopped the agenda of the DPP president in the country Lai during his first year in his position.

Can the summons succeed?

Lev Nachman, an expert in Taiwanese policy at Taiwan National University, said Taiwan usually has a great demand for voters during the major elections, but remember that the votes are much more than the WildCard card.

“Our previous experience should tell us that this should not be passed. However, we have never seen mobilization work like this in retrieval operations before,” he told Al -Jazeera on a large scale. “We are sometimes unprecedented.”

Ho Chih Young, a KMT member and former party spokesman, told Al Jazerera that the summons campaign has created a “atmosphere similar to the national elections” that would test the mobilization and participation of the main political parties in Taiwan.

He said that the weather may also raise the standards, as the tropical storm passes north of Taiwan, and the bad weather may inhibit the base of the older voters in the KMT out of the exit.

Why is Acture Vote International News?

Nachman said that the vote will determine whether Lai will be a larger president in the next three years, and whether he has the ability to implement the major foreign defense and foreign policy initiatives.

He said, “Unfortunately, it is a really big problem because every question for people in foreign policy depends on whether these recovery operations are successful or unsuccessful.”

The issue involves global importance due to the disputed political situation in Taiwan and the threat of the future conflict involved in China in the Strait of Taiwan.

He added: “The classic Taiwan problem is that not only that society is divided, but that society is divided, and the hour is heading around whether there is a war on this place or not.”

“Everything here is more modern.”

Why are voters targeting KMT?

Despite its success in the last elections, as it occupied 14 seats, KMT has angered voters and even traditional supporters by trying to expand the legislative authorities and target the budget of President Lay.

The KMT majority in the legislative body managed to freeze or reduce 207.5 billion dollars Taiwan (then $ 6.3 billion) from the Lai 2025 budget – which affects everything from Taiwan submarine and the drone to its council from the original peoples.

The budget battle was the main news throughout Taiwan, but it sparked an international interest when KMT targeted $ 3.1 billion in defensive spending.

Brian Hui, a non -resident colleague at the Taiwan Research Center at the University of Nottingham and a repeated commentator on the Taiwanese policy, said that some discounts were angered by the cross -section of voters and groups that are traditionally in line with KMT, such as farmers and indigenous voters.

He said: “KMT has done very bad and angered all this random population composition by reducing the budget.”

He added, “This was just a strategic.”

What about the Chinese worker?

KMT is one of the oldest political parties in Asia, but the division of generations about Taiwan’s relationship with China challenges its old position in the Taiwanese politics. Some voters believe that the party was chosen by the Communist Party of China (CCP) in Beijing.

CCP threatened to one day in peace or by force, and the two main political parties in Taiwan offer different approaches to how to respond to Beijing’s threat.

The DPP followed the President Lay a more explicit approach by calling for Taiwan on the international stage and intensifying defensive spending, while KMT follows a more reconciliation approach that prefers continuous dialogue with China.

The concerns surrounding China in the past led to the dismantling of some of the most prominent KMT members, such as the party of the Jn Fu-Chuch, who led controversially a delegation from legislators to Beijing last year at a time of great political tension in the Taiwan Strait.

What does KMT say?

The former KMT party member and spokesperson for the KMT said that the summons supporters were offending the use of a system designed to remove individuals who are considered invalid to hold their publications for serious reasons, such as corruption.

He said: “The” mass summons “campaign is not driven by the individual performance of KMT, but instead it is a comprehensive attempt to cancel the opposition legislators in all fields.

“To apply for this effort, the DPP has intentionally framing KMT as” pro -religious “and accused her of” selling Taiwan “, a tactic designed to issue ideological divisions and fill its base through fear and hostility, which increases the possibility that the calls will pass.”

A senior KMT member also told Al -Jazeera that voters may be looking for an outlet for their frustrations amid the high cost of living and economic tension resulting from the trade war of US President Donald Trump and the threat of customs tariffs on Taiwan.

Trump threatened to impose a tariff of up to 32 percent on the economy that the island is driving. Over the past six months, the new Taiwan dollar has been 11 percent, which affects the minimum of thousands of small and medium -sized local manufacturers that must compete with foreign goods that become cheaper for Taiwan consumers where their dollars go further in terms of spending power.