The DPP and KMT have threatened nationwide recall campaigns against each others' lawmakers. The DPP whip even suggested dissolving the whole chamber as partisan strife mounts.
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00:00A new year has started, with the legislature in an uproar.
00:04Though the partisan divide has always been bitter, rancor over controversial recent amendments
00:09now has the two biggest parties threatening each other with a political showdown.
00:14Over the weekend, Democratic Progressive Party whip Ke Jianmin threw down the gauntlet with
00:19a call to wipe out much of the rival Kuomintang's caucus through a nationwide mass recall campaign.
00:24We want two things.
00:26First, we want to remove the president.
00:30Second, we want to remove the Kuomintang's 41 district legislators.
00:36That would mean the ousting of every Kuomintang district lawmaker elected last year, decimating
00:41the caucus from the biggest in the chamber to a tiny 13-seat minority.
00:46Ke has justified the move by saying the Kuomintang has pushed through bills that are either unconstitutional
00:51or put Taiwan's interests at risk.
00:54Though there aren't yet any concrete plans to carry out this threat, the Kuomintang already
00:58says it accepts the challenge, and may retaliate with a recall campaign of its own.
01:17But the rhetoric hasn't stopped there.
01:19One of the most divisive of the recent bills, one that would set new rules on the constitutional
01:24court's ability to hear or rule on cases, is up for a re-vote, and the Kuomintang is
01:29likely to get it passed a second time.
01:32To prevent this, the Democratic Progressive Party's whip wants a referendum on dissolving
01:36the whole chamber.
01:38Legal experts say that's not actually possible under current laws.
01:48But even if all of it, from threats of recall campaigns to threats to dissolve the chamber,
01:52is just political bluster, it is an escalation.
01:56And just days after DPP President Lai Ching-de said he wanted to bridge the political divide
02:01between the parties.
02:02If this latest escalation is any indicator, it could be another turbulent year ahead for
02:07Taiwanese politics in 2025.
02:10Klein Wong and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus News.