KMT, TPP vow to impeach President Lai

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's opposition parties on Friday said they will try to impeach President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) over what they described as his recent "undemocratic" practices, despite practical obstacles that would preclude the scenario.

The move came after Lai failed on Monday to promulgate a recent legal amendment that would have allowed local governments to receive a larger share of government revenues, arguing that the legislation would hurt Taiwan's fiscal sustainability.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) had declined to countersign the legislation earlier that day, which Lai cited as the pretext for not publicly announcing the law, normally considered to be routine.

"Lai Ching-te has made himself emperor. He has shown that he has no regard for public opinion," Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), convener of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) caucus, told a news conference at the Legislature.

Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), convener of the opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucus, said that according to the Constitution, Lai should have promulgated the bill within 10 days after the Legislature voted down on Dec. 5 the Cabinet's motion to reconsider the revision.

"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 will tender a motion to impeach Lai for review at a plenary session, but he did not specify when.

According to the Additional Articles of the Constitution, a motion to impeach the president or the vice president is initiated after gaining the backing of half of the total number of lawmakers.

It then must gain the approval of two-thirds of the total number of lawmakers before being forwarded to the grand justices who sit on Taiwan's Constitutional Court to be adjudicated.

However, the court, which normally has 15 justices but currently only has 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 managed to clear 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 ruling Democratic Progressive Party 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 spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said her office respected any move as long as it is within constitutional limits.

Separately on Thursday, DPP lawmaker Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) said that with the Constitutional Court paralyzed and the opposition parties' having an overly optimistic view of their sway in the legislature, the plan to impeach the president was likely just a show.