Taipei: Business tycoon Robert Tsao on Sunday called on citizen volunteers to step back from the Aug. 23 recall votes targeting opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers, saying the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should now take over campaigning instead. “I urge everyone to take a step back and let the DPP put in the work,” the founder of United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) said in a Facebook post.

According to Focus Taiwan, recall votes targeting 24 KMT lawmakers all failed on Saturday, but seven more KMT lawmakers will face recall votes on Aug. 23. Tsao, a leading figure in the recall campaign group “anti-communist, safeguard Taiwan volunteers alliance,” said the second round of public recall votes next month were the DPP’s “last chance to flip the legislature” in its favor.

The recall votes are “a battle” that volunteer groups “cannot afford to fight,” Tsao said, adding that they had already achieved success by uniting people to “oppose communism and protect Taiwan.” Tsao mentioned that after the second-stage petition drive was approved, opposition lawmakers facing public recall votes suddenly became “gentle and humble,” unfroze budgets, and visited voters.

However, the campaign had exhausted its resources after completing petition drives in 24 districts, Tsao said. He expressed unease that the DPP only wanted to act as an “irresponsible flank” to the recall movement. In response, DPP legislative caucus secretary-general Wu Szu-yao expressed “the highest gratitude and respect” for Tsao’s efforts.

Wu noted that Tsao had always expected the DPP to take over from the third stage and acknowledged he had led the campaign until July 26. “As long as citizens do not give up, the DPP must also take on greater responsibility,” she said.