TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Legislative Yuan (立法院), the island's parliament, conducted a decisive roll-call vote Friday (July 25) on Judicial Yuan (大法官) grand justice nominees. Opposition Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) legislators, joined by the Taiwan People's Party Caucus (TPP, 民眾黨), voted decisively against all proposed nominees in a coordinated rejection. KMT legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) emphasized that nominees must demonstrate courage to challenge those in power, identifying this characteristic as fundamentally crucial when evaluating judicial qualifications.
KMT legislators Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) and Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) held a press conference following the contentious vote to explain their party's unified position. The legislators articulated their consensus that the proposed nominees failed to meet the rigorous qualifications expected of Taiwan's highest court justices. Wu reinforced his earlier concerns, emphasizing that qualified nominees must possess fundamental legal knowledge, comprehensive understanding of their constitutional responsibilities, and most critically, the institutional courage to oppose the ruling party when necessary.
Wu specifically criticized the evasive responses provided by nominees Chan Chen-jung (詹鎮榮) and Hsiao Wen-sheng (蕭文生) during questioning about constitutional aspects of national policies. The legislator noted that parliamentary members were forced to probe from multiple angles to extract clearer, more substantive answers from the nominees. Weng expressed optimism that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) would carefully consider public sentiment and engage constructively with opposition parties when selecting future candidates committed to protecting Taiwan's democracy and upholding constitutional principles.
Hsu declared that every KMT legislator voted against the nominees, characterizing the unanimous rejection as a strong protest against what the party considers the Lai administration's abuse of executive power. She called for future judicial nominees who would exercise their constitutional duties with complete independence and impartiality. The Office of the President had announced seven nominees in March, including Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明), the current Chief Prosecutor of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office (台灣高等檢察署), Taiwan's premier prosecutorial institution.
