Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has confirmed that it will hold a vote on President Lai Ching-te's impeachment case on May 19.
According to reports from Taiwan's United Daily News and China Times News Network, party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan reached a consensus on Friday that the roll-call vote on the impeachment case against President Lai Ching-te will take place at 10 a.m. on May 19, the day before Lai's second inauguration anniversary. The voting will last for one hour. The threshold for passing is a two-thirds majority, requiring support from 76 legislators.
According to constitutional amendments, the Legislative Yuan may propose an impeachment case against the President or Vice President with the proposal from half of all lawmakers and a resolution supported by two-thirds or more, which is then referred to the Constitutional Court for review.
Last December, after Premier Cho Jung-tai refused to countersign the Fiscal Revenue and Expenditure Distribution Act passed by the Yuan, opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party caucuses announced the initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Lai Ching-te.
The impeachment case has already held two public hearings on January 14 and 15 this year to solicit opinions from impartial members of society; and on January 21 and 22, the first full committee reviews were conducted, with President Lai Ching-te invited to attend and explain, but he did not appear.
Lai Ching-te declined to attend on the grounds that the Legislative Yuan does not have direct accountability powers over the President. Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers severely criticized Lai for openly defying the highest institution of public opinion in Taiwan, calling it a trampling of constitutional order.
After his New Year's speech this year, Lai Ching-te emphasized in an interview that he had not broken the law, questioned the motives of the opposition in raising the impeachment case against him, and bluntly said that the blue and white camps (KMT and TPP) pursuing the impeachment despite knowing their numbers are insufficient to meet the threshold is a waste of time.