Han Kuo‑yu Criticizes Executive Yuan; Green Party Sarcastic Reply, Suggests Legal Credit Additions

Legislative Yuan President Han Kuo-yu recently launched a scathing criticism against the Executive Yuan's constitutional operations, accusing it of weaponizing the power to refuse countersigning bills and severely distorting current constitutional norms. The remarks immediately sent strong ripples through the political arena. In response, Fan Yun, secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus, held a press conference today to deliver a robust counterattack. She emphasized that the Executive Yuan's exercise of power is by no means a weaponized tactic, but rather a power and obligation explicitly granted by the Constitution, aimed at applying the brakes to an increasingly runaway Legislative Yuan. Fan further sarcastically suggested that instead of making politically colored comments, Han Kuo-yu, as the speaker of the parliament, should organize a constitutional study group within the Legislative Yuan, inviting top domestic constitutional experts and legal scholars to jointly discuss the relevant legal principles.

At the core of this political war of words is the system of reconsideration and countersignature regarding bills passed three times by the Legislative Yuan, as stipulated in the Additional Articles of the Constitution and the constitutional system of Taiwan. The so-called controversy over refusing to countersign often arises during times of high confrontation between the executive and legislative branches, when political impasses are difficult to resolve. When the Legislative Yuan uses its majority advantage to pass certain bills that the executive branch deems difficult to implement, unconstitutional, or infringing upon executive powers, how the administrative system can resist and balance through constitutional procedures has consistently been a recurring debate in Taiwan's constitutional history. As the leader of the nation's highest legislative body, Han Kuo-yu's public criticism of the Executive Yuan's practices is tantamount to directly questioning the defensive mechanisms of executive power within the constitutional system. This not only constitutes a comment on a single event, but also touches upon the fundamental positioning of the principle of separation of powers.

Faced with the public accusations from the Legislative Yuan president, the DPP caucus launched a swift and forceful counterattack, highlighting the ruling party's strong sense of crisis regarding the current parliamentary majority ecology. Fan Yun pointed out that the Executive Yuan's exercise of power in accordance with the law serves as the last line of defense for maintaining constitutional order, rather than deliberately creating political confrontation. The green camp believes that under the domination of a specific political party, the current Legislative Yuan frequently engages in legislative actions that exceed constitutional boundaries and infringe upon executive or budgetary powers. If the Executive Yuan fails to adopt necessary constitutional measures for checks and balances, it would truly lead to the collapse of the separation of powers. This statement by the DPP caucus aims to steer the core narrative toward "guarding constitutional governance" and "preventing parliamentary runaways," attempting to secure the moral and legal high ground in the battle of public opinion.

Pulling the focus back to Han Kuo-yu's remarks and the DPP's sarcastic response, although the proposal to hold a constitutional study group carries a strong rhetorical political meaning, it also reflects the cognitive gap within Taiwan's current political arena regarding constitutional interpretation and the boundaries of power. For a long time, Taiwan's constitutional system has operated in the gray area between a dual-executive and a semi-presidential system. Conflicts between the executive and the legislature often cannot be resolved simply by relying on text, but instead depend on Grand Justices' constitutional interpretations or a high degree of political wisdom for coordination. However, under the political status quo of high ruling-opposition confrontation and weak foundations of trust, the exercise of any constitutional power is easily magnified and interpreted as political struggle. This is precisely the fundamental reason why Han Kuo-yu and the DPP caucus are talking past each other and finding it difficult to intersect.

From a deeper political and social impact perspective, controversies of this nature surrounding the exercise of constitutional powers not only affect the short-term promotion of bills and policy implementation, but also shape, over the long term, the Taiwanese public's confidence in democratic rule of law and government operations. When the highest heads and representatives of the executive and legislative branches openly engage in cross-air clashes via the media, or even describe constitutional mechanisms as weaponized or as brake pads, they invisibly exacerbate social division and confrontation. How to return constitutional disputes to legal discussions rather than degenerating into slanging matches tests the wisdom and political maturity of ruling and opposition politicians alike. This storm sparked by the refusal to countersign is unlikely to reach a consensus in the Legislative Yuan anytime soon and is bound to continue burning into the reviews of various major bills in the future.

(Source of Facts: Central News Agency)