Opposition slams Lai ahead of May 19 impeachment vote

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) Opposition legislators on Thursday accused President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of refusing to accept democratic checks and balances after he did not attend legislative review sessions on an impeachment motion against him ahead of a final vote scheduled for May 19.

The impeachment drive was initiated by the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) following a standoff over amendments to a fiscal revenue allocation law.

The opposition accused Lai of breaching the Constitution after Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) refused to countersign legislation passed by the opposition-controlled Legislature, for the first time in the history of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

During Thursday's session, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said that no one in the Republic of China is above the law.

"We cannot accept a president elected through democracy who is unwilling to accept its constraints," Lin said.

KMT Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) accused Lai of failing to respect the legislative majority, while Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞) threw a stack of papers on the floor, claiming Lai had failed to fulfill 99 percent of his campaign promises.

Lawmaker Huang Chien-pin (黃健賓) added the motion was a tool to force the president to "hear the voices" of the public.

On Wednesday, TPP lawmaker Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said the impeachment bid aimed to "wake up" the president after what he described as Lai's failure to unite the ruling and opposition camps.

Other KMT legislators, including Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄), Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), further accused the administration of undermining constitutional governance and weakening democratic oversight.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), meanwhile, dismissed the impeachment drive as political theater.

DPP caucus chief Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said Thursday that the party boycotted the review sessions because the opposition was turning a political dispute into an impeachment matter.

However, he said DPP lawmakers would still attend the May 19 vote to formally oppose the motion.

The impeachment is expected to fail. While the KMT-led coalition and TPP hold a combined 62 seats, they fall short of the 76-vote (two-thirds) supermajority required to refer the case to the Constitutional Court.

Removal from office would then require backing from two-thirds of the sitting justices.

Currently, the court lacks enough sitting justices to meet the legal quorum for a final ruling.