Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Thursday called on the legislature to dismiss the Cabinet through a vote of noconfidence, accusing the administration of President William Lai (賴清德) of abusing its judicial powers.
Speaking at a protest outside the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday evening, Chiang urged opposition parties to use their combined legislative majority to advance the motion.
His remarks came after KMT local offices were raided over the past few days and staff members were brought in for questioning over allegations of forged signatures on recall petitions targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The KMT sees the moves as political persecution.
“The legislature should push for the dismissal of the Cabinet instead of allowing the ruling power to continue hurting Taiwan unjustly,” Chiang said.
Chiang, who described the protest as his first against Taiwan’s judicial system, said he was attending “as a national of the Republic of China, a Taipei citizen and a father of three.”
Under the Additional Articles of the Constitution, if a no-confidence vote is passed, the premier may request that the president dissolve the Legislative Yuan.
Addressing the possibility of Lai dissolving the legislature, Chiang said he believed the public would express their dissatisfaction with the ruling party by voting for opposition candidates in any subsequent legislative elections.
According to the additional articles, the Legislative Yuan may propose a no-confidence vote against the premier with the signatures of at least one-third of all lawmakers.
The motion can be passed with a simple majority of the legislature’s 113 seats. If approved, the premier must tender their resignation within 10 days and may request that the president dissolve the legislature.
If the vote fails, the legislature cannot launch another no-confidence vote against the same premier within one year.
Yesterday, Chiang told reporters he was simply advocating an idea, as he was not a lawmaker and did not have a position within the KMT, and therefore had no authority on the matter.
However, if Lai were to dissolve the legislature following a vote of noconfidence, people could think about Taiwan’s future from a more comprehensive perspective, he said.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said his party “does not rule out any measures that are beneficial to Taiwan’s democracy and can make the leader step down.”
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has DPP of overstepping judicial boundaries, alleging that the corruption indictments against former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) were not backed by evidence and were politically motivated.
Yesterday, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that a presidential re-election would be necessary if Lai were to dissolve the legislature.
Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, Huang criticized Chiang’s proposal for a no-confidence vote against the premier, saying it would play into the DPP’s hands.
“The DPP has been advocating for dissolving the legislature in recent months,” Huang said. “How can it be considered a vote of no-confidence against William Lai if he remains in office after a legislative re-election? This would only gift the DPP an opportunity to reverse the situation and salvage their debacle.”
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) yesterday questioned the KMT’s public support and the propriety of Chiang raising the issue given his mayoral status.
Citing how recall motions targeting KMT lawmakers have already cleared initial thresholds, Wu said the KMT might have missed the optimal timing to push for the Cabinet’s dismissal.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that Chiang made the proposal in Chu’s stead, showing that “the KMT is done already.”
“I will absolutely support it if the KMT dares launch the Cabinet dismissal,” he said.
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