Kaoshiung Mayor Han Kuo-Yu Removed in Unprecedented Vote in Taiwan

Text by: Adrien Simorre Follow

Taiwanese democracy has struck again. A few months after the reappointment of a president opposed to the annexation of Taiwan by China, the inhabitants of Kaoshiung, the second city of the country, have just dismissed their mayor. A controversial figure, Han Kuo-yu was also the unsuccessful candidate of the Chinese nationalist party in the presidential election last January.

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From our correspondent in Kaoshiung,

It was a real explosion of joy when the results were announced . In the crowd, all ages came to greet, this Saturday, June 6, the dismissal of the mayor of the Taiwanese city , Han Kuo-yu. “  I really feel very happy. He was elected two years ago but did nothing for the city. We don't want a politician like that here,  ”explains Kao Ruei-hon, a 39-year-old supermarket worker who keeps pressing a little horn.

Elected mayor in 2018, Han Kuo-yu had surfed on his popularity to start a few months later in the presidential race . But his conciliatory positions towards China as well as his populist style had cost him a bitter defeat and today it is his city which turns its back on it.

The first time that such an election is successful

"  He did not keep any of his promises and he ran in the presidential election immediately after his election, it is really unacceptable!  “, Says Mr. Chang, 70 years old, regaining his senses on a small plastic chair.

The Taiwanese constitution allows voters to dismiss some of their elected officials, but it is the first time that such a vote has been successful. "  I think this is a message sent to all Taiwanese politicians: if you do not respect your commitments, you will be dismissed by the citizens!  Exclaims Yeh Hsi-chieh, a 35-year-old employee in the electronics sector.

The mayor's camp had called on his supporters to boycott the poll, to no avail. With 42% participation, Han-Kuo yu will be revoked and a new vote will be held in the next three months.

Taiwan: Han Kuo-yu's dismissal confirms rejection of China

The former Kuomingtang (KMT) presidential candidate was qualified as Taiwanese Donald Trump but defending a rapprochement with People's China. This massive rejection is proof that populism is not working in Taiwan, says Jean-Yves Heurtebise, professor at the Catholic University of Fujen (Taipei) and associate researcher at the Center for French Studies on Contemporary China (Hong Kong).

Interview by Stéphane Lagarde

RFI: Two years ago Han Kuo-yu won the mayor of Khaoshiung, he is now dismissed. Can you explain this system which allows to dismiss an elected official ?

Jean-Yves Heurtebise: It is a system which is not specific to Taiwan and which exists in particular in Great Britain. It allows to recall a candidate, and therefore to cancel his election in a way. The first stage is a petition which must be signed by more than 150,000 people, in this case there were 400,000. Then there is the stage of voting. There too, there is a threshold of 500,000 people which has been greatly exceeded. This Saturday we had a 42% turnout, including 97% who voted for the holding of new elections in three months.

Is the 42% participation partly explained by the call for the ex-candidate from the Kuomingtang to abstain?

Yes, which allows Han Kuo-yu to say that a majority of voters would be favorable to him. Which is a posture that is both rhetorical and strategic, because even at 50% there would have been 80% yes. We cannot both tell people not to vote and then say that not enough people participated to validate the vote.

We must remember that 4 years ago Han Kuo-yu came almost from nowhere. He was little known, before becoming a political star in late 2018 by taking the town hall of Kaohsiung which was for more than a decade a bastion of the Progressive Democratic Party (DPP). This allowed him to take the leadership of the KMT and represent the Chinese Nationalist Party in the last presidential election with favorable polls until the end of 2019, before collapsing before Tsai Ing-wen in January 2020 with only 38% of the votes. And now he's losing his town hall. It therefore descended as quickly as it climbed, until it became a thorn in the side for the Kuomingtang.

How to explain such a fall?

It was the action of Han Kuo-yu that did not convince. He was not appreciated as president of the Kuomingtang, nor as mayor. What the voters of Kaohsiung in particular did not digest is that, barely elected at the head of the city, he rushed into the presidential battle. So he was immediately absent from his post. It gave its citizens the impression of the abandoned and of having used the town hall as a springboard for the presidency which it did not obtain.

There are several projects he did not keep. During his campaign, he promised to bring Chinese capital and tourists to Kaohsiung. A promise that broke down on the fact that Taiwan is more and more anti-Chinese around a whole series of events. The Taiwanese economy has managed to fare well in the Sino-American trade war. There is also Covid-19 which the Taiwanese continue to call "Wuhan pneumonia". Those under 30 in Taiwan are 83% in favor of Taiwanese sovereignty. If you add to that a form of incompetence, the perception of being confronted with a pushy and the global context of a form of resistance to popular China, all this makes that the political platform of Han Kuo-yu was collapsed.

We talked at one point about a Taiwanese Donald Trump, this image will have finally served him ?

This vote is proof of this. Donald Trump's style doesn't work in Taiwan. There is no such appetite for the populist candidate. It is also in the continuity of the presidential election won by Tsai Ing-wen, there is a rejection of any rapprochement with China. It is a severe defeat for the KMT which shows that perhaps the 2018 elections were an anomaly and in any case an exception. We also have the personality of Han Kuo-yu who deeply displeased. Taiwanese voters insist on the competence and honesty of the candidates. There is currently no bonus for exuberance and demagogic demonstrations. It also confirms the strength of Taiwanese democracy which makes it possible to recall mayors whose voters want to get rid of during their mandate.

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