Taiwanese Premier Declines to Sign Budgetary Amendment, Legislature Considers Vote of No-Confidence

Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai ​announced on December 15 that the Executive Yuan would refuse to endorse a proposed amendment previously passed by a parliamentary coalition of the Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party representatives that aimed to reallocate revenue from the central to local governments. Cho stated that the amendment posed an illegal risk to Taiwan's financial system. 

The Executive Yuan previously estimated that such a change would incur over NTD$563.8 billion in debt, breaching the country's 15% debt ceiling and potentially undermining governance. The Legislative Yuan rejected a subsequent proposal from the Executive Yuan to reconsider the amendment, instead pushing for it to be passed by December 15.

What Does Not Countersigning Mean?

Taiwan's constitution requires the President to obtain the Premier's countersignature to promulgate laws and issue orders. Taiwan's semi-presidential system requires the Premier to both enact and take responsibility for policies. 

Not countersigning is one tactic the Premier can use to avoid passing proposed laws they view as illegal or unfeasible. If the Premier decides not to countersign a law, it is effectively vetoed.  （Related： Taiwan Announces Free COVID Vaccines for First Two Months of 2026 ｜ Latest ）

However, the parliament can respond by calling for a motion of no-confidence against the premier. To pass, this motion would need tofirst be cosponsored by one-third of legislators, and then be supported by over half in a subsequent roll-call vote held within 48 hours.

The opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan's People's Party currently hold 52 out of a total of 113 in the Legislative Yuan. The KMT can cosponsor the motion alone, but passing it would require cooperation with the Taiwan People's Party, which currently holds 8 seats. 

Besides two independent candidates, the rest of Taiwan's legislature is composed of the Democratic Progressive Party, which would likely vote against the motion. Historic attempts to pass a similar vote of no-confidence in 1999, 2012, and 2013 all failed.  （Related： Taiwan Announces Free COVID Vaccines for First Two Months of 2026 ｜ Latest ）

If upheld, the motion would require the Premier to resign within ten days. It could also result in a dissolution of parliament, as the Premier could request the President to dissolve the Legislative Yuan and trigger new elections.