Impeachment motion against Taiwanese leader Lai fails

Email: online@newsofbahrain.com

TAIPEI: An impeachment motion against Taiwanese leader William Lai failed on Tuesday, marking the first presidential impeachment vote in the island's constitutional history.

The high-stakes motion failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, concluding with 56 lawmakers voting in favor and 50 voting against, while seven legislators did not collect their ballots.

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party had collectively initiated the unprecedented proceedings in December last year. The political push was triggered after Premier Cho Jung-tai refused to countersign opposition-backed amendments concerning government revenue allocation laws.

The final vote took place exactly one day before Lai celebrated his second anniversary in office. Under Taiwan's strict constitutional framework, the removal of a president demands explicit approval from at least 76 lawmakers to advance. Had the motion cleared that parliamentary threshold, it would have then been referred directly to the Constitutional Court for further review.