TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) faced a setback in the Legislative Yuan (立法院) on Friday (Oct. 18), as the central government's 2025 budget proposal stalled for the fifth time, marking an unprecedented occurrence. With 107 legislators present, the proposal gathered 49 votes in favor and 58 against, failing to pass once again.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) took to Facebook to express his rare and firm stance on the matter. He acknowledged the give-and-take nature of cross-party negotiations and stated that if the deadlock continues, the Executive Yuan (行政院) might need to consider requesting a constitutional interpretation for a fair judgment from the Constitutional Court (憲法法庭).
The DPP caucus stationed themselves at the Legislative Yuan's entrance at 3 a.m. to submit the proposal promptly. Around 10 a.m., Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) asked if there were any objections to including the proposal in the session's agenda. Initially, only DPP legislators were present and voiced no objections.
However, as Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) legislators entered, they quickly voiced their opposition, prompting Han to call for a vote. The KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) jointly blocked the proposal, leading to strong protests from the DPP caucus. They criticized Speaker Han for alleged bias and accused him of favoring the KMT.
