A citizen group in Keelung is gathering tens of thousands of signatures to oust the city's mayor. Hsieh Kuo-liang stands accused of incompetence and abuse of power. Discrepancies in the number of signatures have delayed the petition, but the campaign is confident the petition will pass the threshold.
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00:00mobilising the masses to oust a mayor. A citizen group in the northern city of Jilong is going
00:12ahead with efforts to recall their mayor, Xie Guoliang, after months of campaigning.
00:17They're accusing him of incompetence and abuse of power, and of mismanaging a handover
00:23of the city's most popular mall. The petition needs just under 31,000 signatures
00:29to pass at the second stage, representing 10% of the local electorate.
00:34And despite being asked to clarify some discrepancies in the 43,000 names they submitted on July
00:405th, the group is confident they'll reach the threshold.
00:43We're not worried about the number of signatures. We believe we can pass it in one go.
00:57If the signatures are accepted, the city's election commission will be forced to hold
01:01a recall vote within 60 days. A simple majority in that vote would remove Xie from office.
01:08But some of his supporters are questioning the legitimacy of the petition.
01:25High-profile mayoral recalls have happened before.
01:28The current speaker of Taiwan's legislature, Han Kuo-yu, was removed as mayor of Kaohsiung
01:33in 2020, after failing to convince the public he could handle his duties while also running
01:39for president. And if the citizens of Jilong are able to
01:43correct the discrepancies in their petition, Mayor Xie may face a similar fate.
01:49Karma Hsu and Rhys Ayres for Taiwan Plus.
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