Disclaimer
I’m not a law major. I am just trying to use the Constitution to figure the mess we see now, before and after Double Ten Day. I also tried to do some math, which I’m really bad at. :P I would love for you guys to give me some feedback or correct me where I’m wrong..
The anti-Chen rally seems like it will never end. Meanwhile, KMT legislators are preparing the third recall motion. How many votes do they actually need to pass the recall motion?
According to Article 2, the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), “Recall of the president or the vice president shall be initiated upon the proposal of one-fourth of all members of the Legislative Yuan, and also passed by two-thirds of all the members. The final recall must be passed by more than one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the electorate in the free area of the Republic of China takes part.”
There are 225 seats in the Legislator Yuan and currently 220 legislators. The KMT will need more than one-fourth of all members of the Legislative Yuan, which is 56 votes at minimum, to initiate upon the proposal. The first step can be achieved easily by the KMT. What’s hard is that the KMT needs more than two-thirds of legislators, which are 147 legislators at minimum, to pass this proposal. Even though the recall proposal is passed in the Legislative Yuan, it has to be passed by one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the electorate in the free area of the Republic of China take part. It requires more than one-half of the people that possess voting rights in the ROC, approximately 8.25 million people would need to vote to make the result valid, and 4.13 million votes would have to be anti-Chen. In the Presidential Election of 2004, there were 2.43 million votes in favor of pan-blue. They would still need about 1.6 million votes even if the referendum is validated.
KMT has 89 seats, which include 3 seats from the New Party.
People First Party (PFP) has 22.
New Part has 1.
Wudang Tuanjie Lianmeng (無黨團結聯盟) has 6. It is pro-KMT in general.
5 legislators do not belong to any political parties, but are pro-KMT.
The above is pan-blue, and there are 123 seats in total.
In order to pass the recall proposal, they need 24 more votes in the Legislative Yuan.
DPP has 85 seats.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) has 12 seats.
To break the deadlock, the KMT may consider working on Lee Teng-hui. With his influence, he can not only determine the 12 votes of TSU for sure, but also some of the DPP legislators. 12 votes from the DPP will be required to pass the proposal.
It sounds almost impossible for pan-blue to recall the president. That is why there has been mention of a no-confidence vote against the president of the Executive Yuan.
Article 3 (3), Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), says, “With the signatures of more than one-third of the total number of Legislative Yuan members, the Legislative Yuan may propose a no-confidence vote against the president of the Executive Yuan. Seventy-two hours after the no-confidence motion is made, an open-ballot vote shall be taken within 48 hours. Should more than one-half of the total number of Legislative Yuan members approve the motion, the president of the Executive Yuan shall tender his resignation within ten days, and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the Legislative Yuan. Should the no-confidence motion fail, the Legislative Yuan may not initiate another no-confidence motion against the same president of the Executive Yuan within one year”.
The seats of the KMT, the PFP, and the New Party are already more than half of the total seats in the Legislative Yuan. In other words, pan blue can easily pass the no-confidence motion. Why don’t KMT go for it?
First of all, the focus of the anti-Chen rally and the KMT focus is on Chen right now. A no-confidence vote against Su Tseng-Chang, the president of the Executive Yuan, has nothing to do with the whole event. There’s no reason for the KMT to run the risk of being criticized under this advantageous situation. Keeping people’s focus on Chen is now the KMT’s best strategy.
Secondly, since Chen has the right to appoint the president of the Executive Yuan,[1] it is not wise for the KMT to change the president of the Executive Yuan. The next might be even worse for them, and the KMT has no control over this position. All they could do is keep voting no-confidence.
What else can the pan-blue do besides join in the anti-Chen rally, and how can the KMT sustain this anti-Chen sentiment among the people until the coming presidential election? Or maybe, with a great possibility, neither of the two can bother the KMT, if the DPP cannot come up with a new strategy to deal with this crisis.
Helen
p.s You can go check the Constitution here:
Chinese:
中華民國憲法 http://law.moj.gov.tw/Scripts/Query4B.asp?FullDoc=所有條文&Lcode=A0000001
中華民國憲法增修條文 http://law.moj.gov.tw/Scripts/Query4A.asp?FullDoc=all&Fcode=A0000002
English: http://www.president.gov.tw/en/prog/news_release/document_content.php?id=1105498684&pre_id=1105498701&g_category_number=409&category_number_2=373&layer=on&sub_category=455
[1] Article3, the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan) says, “The president of the Executive Yuan shall be appointed by the president. Should the president of the Executive Yuan resign or the office become vacant, the vice president of the Executive Yuan shall temporarily act as the president of the Executive Yuan pending a new appointment by the president. The provisions of Article 55 of the Constitution shall cease to apply”.
I’m not a law major. I am just trying to use the Constitution to figure the mess we see now, before and after Double Ten Day. I also tried to do some math, which I’m really bad at. :P I would love for you guys to give me some feedback or correct me where I’m wrong..
The anti-Chen rally seems like it will never end. Meanwhile, KMT legislators are preparing the third recall motion. How many votes do they actually need to pass the recall motion?
According to Article 2, the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), “Recall of the president or the vice president shall be initiated upon the proposal of one-fourth of all members of the Legislative Yuan, and also passed by two-thirds of all the members. The final recall must be passed by more than one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the electorate in the free area of the Republic of China takes part.”
There are 225 seats in the Legislator Yuan and currently 220 legislators. The KMT will need more than one-fourth of all members of the Legislative Yuan, which is 56 votes at minimum, to initiate upon the proposal. The first step can be achieved easily by the KMT. What’s hard is that the KMT needs more than two-thirds of legislators, which are 147 legislators at minimum, to pass this proposal. Even though the recall proposal is passed in the Legislative Yuan, it has to be passed by one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the electorate in the free area of the Republic of China take part. It requires more than one-half of the people that possess voting rights in the ROC, approximately 8.25 million people would need to vote to make the result valid, and 4.13 million votes would have to be anti-Chen. In the Presidential Election of 2004, there were 2.43 million votes in favor of pan-blue. They would still need about 1.6 million votes even if the referendum is validated.
KMT has 89 seats, which include 3 seats from the New Party.
People First Party (PFP) has 22.
New Part has 1.
Wudang Tuanjie Lianmeng (無黨團結聯盟) has 6. It is pro-KMT in general.
5 legislators do not belong to any political parties, but are pro-KMT.
The above is pan-blue, and there are 123 seats in total.
In order to pass the recall proposal, they need 24 more votes in the Legislative Yuan.
DPP has 85 seats.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) has 12 seats.
To break the deadlock, the KMT may consider working on Lee Teng-hui. With his influence, he can not only determine the 12 votes of TSU for sure, but also some of the DPP legislators. 12 votes from the DPP will be required to pass the proposal.
It sounds almost impossible for pan-blue to recall the president. That is why there has been mention of a no-confidence vote against the president of the Executive Yuan.
Article 3 (3), Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan), says, “With the signatures of more than one-third of the total number of Legislative Yuan members, the Legislative Yuan may propose a no-confidence vote against the president of the Executive Yuan. Seventy-two hours after the no-confidence motion is made, an open-ballot vote shall be taken within 48 hours. Should more than one-half of the total number of Legislative Yuan members approve the motion, the president of the Executive Yuan shall tender his resignation within ten days, and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the Legislative Yuan. Should the no-confidence motion fail, the Legislative Yuan may not initiate another no-confidence motion against the same president of the Executive Yuan within one year”.
The seats of the KMT, the PFP, and the New Party are already more than half of the total seats in the Legislative Yuan. In other words, pan blue can easily pass the no-confidence motion. Why don’t KMT go for it?
First of all, the focus of the anti-Chen rally and the KMT focus is on Chen right now. A no-confidence vote against Su Tseng-Chang, the president of the Executive Yuan, has nothing to do with the whole event. There’s no reason for the KMT to run the risk of being criticized under this advantageous situation. Keeping people’s focus on Chen is now the KMT’s best strategy.
Secondly, since Chen has the right to appoint the president of the Executive Yuan,[1] it is not wise for the KMT to change the president of the Executive Yuan. The next might be even worse for them, and the KMT has no control over this position. All they could do is keep voting no-confidence.
What else can the pan-blue do besides join in the anti-Chen rally, and how can the KMT sustain this anti-Chen sentiment among the people until the coming presidential election? Or maybe, with a great possibility, neither of the two can bother the KMT, if the DPP cannot come up with a new strategy to deal with this crisis.
Helen
p.s You can go check the Constitution here:
Chinese:
中華民國憲法 http://law.moj.gov.tw/Scripts/Query4B.asp?FullDoc=所有條文&Lcode=A0000001
中華民國憲法增修條文 http://law.moj.gov.tw/Scripts/Query4A.asp?FullDoc=all&Fcode=A0000002
English: http://www.president.gov.tw/en/prog/news_release/document_content.php?id=1105498684&pre_id=1105498701&g_category_number=409&category_number_2=373&layer=on&sub_category=455
[1] Article3, the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan) says, “The president of the Executive Yuan shall be appointed by the president. Should the president of the Executive Yuan resign or the office become vacant, the vice president of the Executive Yuan shall temporarily act as the president of the Executive Yuan pending a new appointment by the president. The provisions of Article 55 of the Constitution shall cease to apply”.
posted by e.chang at 12:24 PM
1 comments
