Taipei: Organizing a national referendum alongside 26 recall elections targeting Kuomintang (KMT) legislators could incur a total cost of approximately NT$1.62 billion (US$55.41 million), as reported by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Thursday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the expense for each legislator recall vote ranges between NT$16 million and NT$20 million, while a national referendum alone could cost around NT$1.1 billion. Using the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, the collective cost of the 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators, in addition to a national referendum on the Maanshan nuclear power plant, could reach up to NT$1.62 billion.
The CEC had earlier stated that recall motions against 24 KMT lawmakers were approved, with the voting process scheduled for July 26. Among these lawmakers are KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi and several Taipei representatives, including Wang Hung-wei, Hsu Chiao-hsin, Lee Yen-hsiu, Lo Chih-chiang, and Lai Shyh-bao. Additional legislators from New Taipei involved include Hung Mong-kai, Lin Te-fu, Chang Chih-lun, Yeh Yuan-chih, and Liao Hsien-hsiang.
Other KMT lawmakers facing recall votes are Huang Chien-pin, Cheng Cheng-chien, Lin Pei-hsiang, Wan Mei-ling, Lu Ming-che, Niu Hsu-ting, Tu Chuan-chi, Liao Wei-hsiang, Huang Chien-hao, Lo Ting-wei, Ting Hsueh-chung, Lu Yu-ling, and Chiu Jo-hua. Furthermore, recall votes for two KMT lawmakers from Nantou County, Ma Wen-chun and Yu Hao, have been set for August 23 due to administrative constraints and procedural timelines within Nantou County.
The referendum concerning the restart of the Maanshan nuclear power plant is also slated for August 23, as per the CEC’s schedule. In other recall cases, a vote against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Nantou County Councilor Chen Yu-ling is scheduled for July 13, and the recall vote for the currently suspended Hsinchu City Mayor Kao Hung-an is planned for July 26.
The CEC highlighted that, according to law, the costs associated with recall elections for county and city mayors and councilors are to be borne by local governments.