TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on Monday rejected calls from Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to abolish the Control Yuan, citing the difficulty of amending the Constitution.
Under the ROC Constitution, the Control Yuan exercises oversight powers that in many democracies are held by the legislature, per ETtoday. Following constitutional reforms in 1992 under then-President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the authority to select Control Yuan members shifted from local councils to the president.
After President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) nominated a new slate of Control Yuan members, Chiang criticized the list, arguing the institution had lost its neutrality. He subsequently became one of the leading advocates within the KMT for abolishing the agency.
Commenting on the proposal, Cheng said the high threshold required for constitutional amendments makes abolition impractical. While she said Chiang’s position could help expose what she described as the DPP’s contradictory stance on the issue, she clarified that the KMT is not currently planning to pursue a constitutional amendment.
DPP Legislative Caucus Convener Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) called on the TPP to begin discussions on abolishing the Control Yuan before seeking DPP support, per CNA. Acknowledging the challenges of constitutional reform, Tsai said the DPP would support abolition if all major political parties reached a consensus on the issue.
TPP Legislator Chen Chao-tzu (陳昭姿) expressed regret that the DPP had not acted on its long-standing criticism of the Control Yuan, per Liberty Times. She urged the party to take the lead in advancing constitutional amendments, saying the TPP would cooperate in such an effort.
KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) noted that legislation related to abolishing the Control Yuan is already before the legislature, per UDN. She said lawmakers could move forward with the political process if Lai publicly endorsed abolition and withdrew his current list of nominees.
Former DPP legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) previously argued that many of the Control Yuan’s oversight functions have effectively been absorbed by the Executive Yuan, per China Times. He said that while the agency once had broader authority over civil servants, it now retains the power to investigate and launch impeachment proceedings against officials but not to issue final disciplinary rulings.
Sun Yat-sen School President Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) also weighed in, arguing that the Control Yuan should be reformed rather than abolished, per China Times. He said allowing the president to nominate all members undermines the institution’s neutrality and proposed limiting the ruling party to nominating 14 of the 29 members.
Under Chang’s proposal, the remaining seats would be allocated among opposition parties based on their share of the vote in the most recent general election. He said each party should nominate its own candidates, arguing that parties would have an incentive to select qualified individuals because member performance would affect public perceptions of the party.
Chang added that such reforms would not require constitutional amendments and could instead be implemented through cross-party agreements or revisions to relevant regulations.
