19th December 2025 – (Taipei) Opposition lawmakers from the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have unveiled plans to impeach President William Lai Ching‑te, escalating a constitutional stand‑off sparked by the Executive Yuan’s refusal to countersign a controversial revenue‑sharing bill.
The move follows a vote by the Legislative Yuan’s Judiciary and Organic Laws Committee on Thursday to urge the Control Yuan to impeach Premier Cho Jung‑tai over his refusal to countersign the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures. Lawmakers Huang Kuo‑chang, Lo Chih‑chiang and Wang Hung‑wei tabled two censure motions and called on the Control Yuan to begin impeachment proceedings against Cho; the committee approved both.
The Control Yuan, Taiwan’s top watchdog body, said it handles petitions concerning public officials under the Control Act and will process any submissions according to established procedure. While the Legislative Yuan will transmit the committee’s resolutions, any decision to initiate impeachment rests with the 28‑member Control Yuan. Under the Control Act, an impeachment must be proposed by at least two Control Yuan members, reviewed by a panel of no fewer than nine, and, if endorsed, referred to the Judicial Yuan’s Disciplinary Court.
At Thursday’s hearing, Executive Yuan Secretary‑General Xavier Chang, joined by representatives of the Judicial Yuan and Ministry of Justice, briefed lawmakers on constitutional issues arising from the Executive Yuan’s handling of the revenue‑allocation act. Chang defended Premier Cho’s unprecedented refusal to countersign, arguing the bill is unconstitutional on three counts: it infringes executive authority in breach of the separation of powers; it was pushed through in a “sudden attack‑style” vote without due deliberation or cross‑party consensus; and it would force the central government to borrow NT$266.4 billion, exceeding the Public Debt Act ceiling and causing “irreversible harm”.
Opposition legislators countered that Article 37 of the Constitution, which requires the premier’s countersignature for promulgation, is intended as a check on presidential power under longstanding Constitutional Court interpretations. They accused President Lai and Premier Cho of “distorting” Article 37 by refusing to promulgate and countersign the act, warning that if the executive can overturn laws passed by the Legislative Yuan and “usurp judicial power to decide constitutionality”, the separation of powers would collapse. The two censure motions passed by a show of hands, with KMT and TPP members in favour and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers opposed.
TPP leader Huang Kuo‑chang said he will also seek a plenary vote to introduce an impeachment motion against President Lai, with the next session scheduled for Friday. Under the Law Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power, an impeached office‑holder must attend and provide explanations. The Legislative Yuan may propose impeachment of the President or Vice‑President under Article 4 of the Constitution if backed by more than half of all legislators and approved by at least two‑thirds, after which the case is referred to the Constitutional Court of the Judicial Yuan.
The post Taiwan opposition pushes to impeach President Lai amid constitutional clash over revenue law appeared first on Dimsum Daily.
No comments yet.