Taiwan's top court remains half empty after seven justice nominees were rejected in the legislature. They failed to win bipartisan support—some for their stance on the death penalty, others for their criticism of party politicians. The court may be paralyzed if new amendments kick in requiring 10 justices in attendance for a quorum.
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00:00Struck down, all seven justice nominees to Taiwan's top court
00:04have failed to earn the 57 legislative votes needed to be appointed,
00:09the leading opposition, Kuomintang,
00:11calling it a vote of no confidence across parties for President Lai Ching-teh.
00:16The result of the sacred vote of the National Assembly,
00:19under the unanimous consent of President Lai Ching-teh,
00:24the seven justices nominated by President Lai Ching-teh
00:28have been completely shut down.
00:34The result was an unexpected turnaround from earlier in the day,
00:37when legislators from the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party
00:41said they would stand behind one of the nominees,
00:43expected to be the sole confirmation on Tuesday,
00:46with other legislators voting along party lines.
00:49But the ruling CPP voted against nominee Liu Qingyi,
00:53with caucus whip Ke Jianming saying he'd informed the president of the decision beforehand,
00:58a show of DPP legislators' independence from the party's leader.
01:03At the party conference, I called President Lai.
01:10I said, President Lai, I will support the party today.
01:15He said he was born in the party.
01:17As a legislator, of course I respect him.
01:20Ke also described his caucus's rejection of Liu as a given for the DPP.
01:24Liu holds a leadership position at the country's top university
01:28and previously criticized the party,
01:29its former president Tsai Ing-wen and other notable members.
01:48During confirmation hearings,
01:50many of the nominees were pressed over their stances on the death penalty.
01:53The country's top court recently ruled it partly unconstitutional,
01:57but it is still widely supported by the public,
02:00something the opposition has cited for their rejection votes.
02:03And with new amendments expected to go into effect soon
02:06that could paralyze the court without more sitting justices,
02:09President Lai will have to select his next nominees carefully
02:12until legislators can reach a compromise.