The “Great Recall” in Taiwan has been considered as an unprecedented effort to recall sitting representatives in the national-level legislature with no other recall efforts worldwide having been recorded as extensive as what happened in Taiwan.

On 26 July 2025, recall votes were held for 24 members of the Legislative Yuan, all members of Kuomintang (KMT) or the Nationalist Party. KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party form a majority bloc in the legislature. 

The recall efforts stemmed from KMT-TPP passing of measures that sought to expand the powers of the legislature and cuts to the annual budget, including cutting and freezing of critical national security expenditures, among others. Protest actions were launched against such moves but seeing that these protests did not deter legislators from heeding the people’s voices, civil society groups backed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and individuals launched efforts against all 37 district members of KMT.

“For the recall to pass, more than a quarter of eligible voters in the electoral district must vote in favor of it, and the total number of supporters must exceed those voting against.” The recall efforts failed but seven more KMT legislators are facing recall votes on 23 August 2025. 

To supporters of the recall, the efforts reflected the vigor of Taiwan’s democracy but to opponents, the recall campaign was an abuse of a process that should be used sparingly.

In this episode of “The Election Observer” podcast, we’ll discuss what the results of the “great recall” mean for Taiwan moving forward and how the recall efforts affect the overall health of democracy in Taiwan.

Catch the new episode live on 13 August 2025 at 10 a.m. Bangkok time. “The Election Observer” podcast streams via ANFREL’s Facebook and LinkedIn Pages and Youtube channel. It will later stream via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.