The opposition parties yesterday said they would attempt to impeach President William Lai (賴清德) over what they described as his “undemocratic” practices, despite practical obstacles that would preclude the scenario.
The move came after Lai on Monday refused to promulgate a legislative amendment that would have allowed local governments to receive a larger share of government revenue, arguing that the legislation would hurt the nation’s fiscal sustainability.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) had declined to countersign the legislation earlier that day, which Lai cited as the reason for not publicly announcing the law, normally considered to be routine.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“Lai has made himself emperor. He has shown that he has no regard for public opinion,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) told a news conference at the legislature.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that according to the Constitution, Lai should have promulgated the bill within 10 days after the legislature voted down on Dec. 5 an Executive Yuan motion to reconsider the amendment.
“Never has there been a president who has gone so far as to refuse to promulgate a law passed by the legislature,” Huang said.
He said the opposition caucuses would tender a motion to impeach Lai for review at a plenary session, but he did not specify when.
The Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) state that a motion to impeach the president or vice president can be initiated after gaining the backing of half of lawmakers.
It then must gain the approval of two-thirds of lawmakers before being forwarded to the Constitutional Court to be adjudicated.
However, the court, which normally has 15 justices, but currently has only eight, is below the legal threshold for adjudication and the government’s attempts to fill the vacancies have failed.
That means the proposed impeachment could not be put into effect even if it cleared the legislative floor, which is a near impossibility in itself.
The KMT and TPP together control 60 of the 113 seats in the legislature. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has 51 seats, with the remaining two held by KMT-leaning independent lawmakers, making a two-thirds majority in any vote highly unlikely.
Asked to comment on the opposition parties’ proposed impeachment drive, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said the Presidential Office respected any move as long as it is within constitutional limits.
DPP spokesman Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城) said that it is absurd for the opposition parties to claim they are fighting against dictatorship and an authoritarian regime when they dare not criticize Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is the KMT and TPP combining to take power from other government branches and to paralyze the Constitutional Court. Now they pass a motion to impeach President Lai. It is aimed at deceiving the public with a fake move,” Lee said. “KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) even stated that Putin is not a dictator.”
As they dare not to condemn Putin and Xi, they have no credibility talking about fighting against authoritarianism in the motion to impeach Lai,” he said.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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