Overview

• Taiwanese voters overwhelmingly rejected the July 26 bid to oust 24 Kuomintang lawmakers, dealing a political blow to President Lai’s DPP administration.
• The opposition alliance now holds 62 seats in the 113-member Legislative Yuan, with the KMT at 52 seats, the Taiwan People’s Party at eight and two independents aligned with the KMT.
• Taiwan’s legislature has been stalled by gridlock since January 2024 as the DPP lacks a majority to advance key defense and domestic reform bills.
• Political analysts say the DPP must temper its ‘resist China’ and ‘remove impurities’ rhetoric and pursue bipartisan outreach to overcome the impasse.
• Another seven KMT legislators are scheduled to face recall votes on August 23 as recall campaigns remain a tool in Taiwan’s partisan power struggle.