TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Legislators in Taiwan voted on Friday (Jan. 10) to reject the Executive Yuan's proposed reconsideration of amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法). The opposition Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) leveraged their numerical advantage, with 62 legislators opposing the reconsideration motion while 51 supporting it.
The Legislative Yuan had previously passed the amendments on Dec. 20, mandating that if the number of grand justices falls below 15, the president must nominate replacements within two months. Also, at least 10 grand justices must participate in deliberations, and a minimum of nine must agree to a declaration of unconstitutionality.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) criticized the amendments last Thursday, stating they imposed legislative dominance over the judiciary and hindered the constitutional court's operations. Despite two negotiation attempts, political factions failed to reach a consensus on the reconsideration schedule.
The opposite parties proposed an all-member committee session on Friday to deliberate the reconsideration, excluding Premier Cho from attending. After a review, the session transitioned to a roll-call vote. The session split the voting into northern and southern counters, with the KMT and TPP using the northern counter. Voting concluded at 3:05 p.m., with all 113 legislators participating. Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) announced the results at 3:35 p.m., sealing the fate of the reconsideration motion.