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Taiwan's absorption lawmakers made a failed bid connected Tuesday (May 19, 2026) to impeach President Lai Ching-te, aft the fig of votes successful favour of the question fell good abbreviated of the minimum required.
Mr. Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party person been locked successful a bitter struggle with the 2 absorption parties that power the Parliament since helium took bureau successful May 2024.
Lawmakers from the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) launched impeachment proceedings aft Mr. Lai and his premier refused to motion disconnected connected a revenue-sharing measure passed by Parliament.
Both sides person accused each different of violating the antiauthoritarian island's Constitution.
‘Dictatorial’
Opposition legislators person described Mr. Lai arsenic "dictatorial". DPP lawmaker Wu Szu-yao said connected Monday (May 18) the KMT and TPP "are coordinating with outer hostile forces to manipulate Taiwan's governmental struggles."
Fifty-six lawmakers supported impeaching Lai and 50 were against it. The fig of votes successful favour was beneath the minimum two-thirds of the 113-seat parliament needed for the question to succeed.
Premier Cho Jung-tai vowed Tuesday to "continue to propulsion for reconciliation and coexistence" with the absorption parties.
But divisions stay deep. A cardinal constituent of contention betwixt Mr. Lai's authorities and the absorption has been implicit however overmuch to walk connected defending the land against a imaginable onslaught from China.
China claims Taiwan is portion of its territory and has threatened to prehend it by force.
The KMT and TPP rejected the government's projected NT$1.25 trillion successful spending connected captious weapons, that included U.S. arms and domestically procured drones and different munitions.
Instead, aft months of governmental wrangling, the absorption parties passed a fund of NT$780 cardinal for U.S. arms only.
Mr. Lai, an outspoken defender of Taiwan's sovereignty, has accused China of being the "root cause" of instability successful the region.
The KMT, which favours person relations with China and whose chairperson Cheng Li-wun precocious went to Beijing to conscionable Chinese President Xi Jinping, blames Mr. Lai for worsening cross-strait tensions.
