TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Executive Yuan announced on Sunday that it will send the Election and Recall Act amendments back to the Legislative Yuan for review.
The Executive Yuan will exercise its legal recourse to demand reconsideration by legislators, UDN reported. The formal request for review was issued by the Cabinet on Sunday, the last day of its 10-day review period.
The Legislative Yuan delivered the amendments to the Executive Yuan on Jan. 24, the last workday before the Lunar New Year holiday break. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) sharply criticized Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and opposition lawmakers, accusing them of a politically calculated move to push the bill through before the break.
Under Taiwan’s law, the Executive Yuan has a 10-day period to review newly passed legislation. During this time, it can request lawmakers reconsider a bill before it is promulgated into law.
On Sunday, the Cabinet requested that lawmakers respond within 10 days, though the Constitution allows up to 15 days to settle the matter.
If lawmakers do not vote again within 15 days, the legislation will become invalid. If more than half of lawmakers reaffirm their support, the bill will be returned to the Executive Yuan, which must then formally enact it into law.
The same legal process recently played out with the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, which was promulgated despite Executive Yuan objections.
Within the next two weeks, KMT and TPP lawmakers are expected to vote again in favor of the Election and Recall Act amendments, forcing President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to sign them into law. The amendments would raise the signature threshold for recalls and require petitioners to submit photos of their national ID cards.
The legal tug-of-war between the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan comes at a critical time. The DPP, in cooperation with civic groups across Taiwan, has launched a nationwide recall campaign targeting KMT legislators in an attempt to shift the balance of power in the legislature.
Once the newly amended Election and Recall Act is promulgated, ongoing recall petitions may be invalidated. As a result, recall campaigns are under immense pressure to reach the necessary signature threshold and schedule recall elections under the current law before the amendments take effect.
