Taiwan passes Bill curbing President Lai’s powers despite massive protests

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s lawmakers passed legislation on May 28 that could curb the authority of President Lai Ching-te, as thousands of protesters gathered outside Parliament to oppose the changes.

The controversial measure became law following a day of raucous debates and scuffles between Mr Lai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and opposition groups, which saw one lawmaker’s T-shirt ripped. That contrasted with demonstrations outside Parliament, which remained peaceful though lively.

“Even if democracy is dead, we will not stop fighting,” protesters shouted.

Progress on passing the revisions to the Law Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power remained slow on May 28, as DPP lawmakers insisted on a line-by-line vote of all 77 articles of the law, even those that were not being changed, as a stalling tactic. 

Anger at the measures has already sparked violent clashes inside the legislature and some of Taiwan’s largest protests since the 2014 Sunflower student movement, when protesters stormed and occupied Parliament, blocking the passage of an unpopular trade pact with China.

The changes would expand lawmakers’ ability to summon the president, companies and even the general public for questioning. It would also give them access to confidential documents.

There are concerns those powers could let lawmakers derail President Lai’s agenda, and lead to leaks of sensitive information and punishments for those who refuse to answer questions. Taiwan already has the Control Yuan, a supervisory branch of government with the power to investigate and impeach officials. 

The floor of the legislature was as colourful and raucous as the streets outside, as headband-wearing lawmakers from Mr Lai’s DPP covered the chamber in placards opposing the amendments.

They also waved bubble tea-shaped torches, shouting “Brush your teeth! Your breath stinks!” at their KMT colleagues, a reference to what they claim are opposition lies about the Bill.

“End the meeting if there is no discussion,” they said.

But there were also shoving matches. “The DPP is a violent party,” KMT lawmakers shouted.

Mr Lai was sworn in as president on May 20,

and the amendments could impair his ability to enact policies on the island that sits at the heart of China-US tensions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government considers Taiwan a breakaway territory and slammed its new leader as an “independence worker” after Mr Lai’s inauguration last week.

The KMT, which advocates closer relations with China, has pushed back at suggestions the law is the result of outside influence. “It has nothing to do with anyone, anything beyond our air defence identification zone,” said Mr Alexander Huang, an adviser to the party.  

But protesters are angry the two parties have cooperated to bring legislation directly to a floor vote, without the normal clause-by-clause deliberation in committee. A Bill prepared by President Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was, meanwhile, left in committee.

With the help of social media – especially Threads, which reportedly has nearly two million active users in Taiwan – protests for May 28 were quickly arranged across at least 10 cities. Even Miaoli, a county that has a long history of supporting the KMT, is set to see demonstrations. 

“Citizens speak up rationally. Young people show their strength,” Mr Lai said in on social media platform X on May 25. “The legislative branch should heed these voices and resume normal operations as soon as possible.” 

Protesters have dubbed their movement the “Blue Bird Action” – named after a road they occupied last week – so social media algorithms will not tag posts as political and reduce their traffic.

As the opposition parties hold the majority of seats in Parliament, the passage of the legislation may be inevitable. If it goes through, Mr Lai’s party will seek a constitutional review, Mr Ker Chien-ming, the DPP’s legislative caucus leader, said at a briefing on May 27.

“There will be two violations of the Constitution,” he added, citing both procedural and substantive violations. Bloomberg