In the summer of 2025, Taiwan's political landscape has been engulfed by a recall storm — a political movement colloquially known as the "Great Recall" that has swept across Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. On July 26, the first batch of 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and Hsinchu mayor Ko Hung-an, whose recalls have reached the required threshold, face voting. This political mobilisation not only affects the ruling-opposition dynamics in the Republic of China's Legislative Yuan, but has also triggered profound discussions across society about the essential nature of the recall system and risks of its abuse.
What is the Recall System?
The Republic of China's recall system represents an anomaly among global democratic institutions. According to the Complete Works of the National Father, which includes a lecture on the "Five-Power Constitution": Sun Yat-sen's original words regarding recall were as follows: "The people naturally should have the power to elect administrative officials, and if officials are incompetent, the people should have even more power to recall them." (1) This reveals Sun Yat-sen's intention to transfer the power to "remove tyrannical officials" from the imperial court to the people. Article 133 of the Constitution of the Republic of China explicitly guarantees the people's right to recall elected officials, ranking alongside election, initiative, and referendum as the four major rights of political participation. But unlike most democratic countries that only establish recall procedures for local leaders, the Public Officials Election and Recall Act also permits recalls of national-level public officials, making the Republic of China one of the very few democratic systems that can recall parliamentary members.
