Legislative Acts

Presidential Impeachment Speech

Legislator Ju-Chun Ko spoke before the Legislative Yuan’s Committee of the Whole on the proposed impeachment of President Lai Ching-te. The speech framed the proposal as a question of democratic accountability: presidential authority comes from the people, and campaign promises must remain subject to legislative scrutiny and public evaluation.

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Key Points

Campaign promises should be measurable

Ko cited media tracking of President Lai’s 227 campaign promises and argued that most remain unfulfilled or not yet started. He emphasized that the nurse-patient ratio reform moved forward through cross-party legislative action, not because the administration proactively fulfilled the pledge.

Energy policy should not sacrifice health and industry

The speech criticized Taiwan’s continued reliance on natural gas and coal-fired power. Ko argued that net-zero policy, power reliability, nuclear energy, renewable energy, grid resilience, and industrial electricity demand should be evaluated pragmatically instead of through ideology.

National security requires communications redundancy

Taiwan depends heavily on submarine cables for international connectivity. Ko argued that Taiwan needs a more diverse and heterogeneous communications network, including low-earth-orbit satellite services, so the country can remain connected during disasters, wartime, and other crises.

AI must not deepen inequality

Ko linked the President’s digital-equity promises with the growing gap between free and paid AI tools. He argued that AI equity and AI vouchers should become public policy so young people are not disadvantaged by unequal access to advanced AI tools.

Trade diplomacy needs timelines and results

The speech questioned the concrete progress of Taiwan’s effort to join regional economic mechanisms such as CPTPP. Ko argued that businesses, farmers, fishers, workers, and the overall economy bear the cost when trade diplomacy remains a slogan without a plan.

Road safety cannot wait for outdated regulations

Ko referenced the Netherlands’ RDW approval of Tesla FSD Supervised for highway use and argued that if advanced driver-assistance technology can reduce crashes, Taiwan should update its regulations instead of forcing citizens to bear the cost of administrative delay.

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Full Speech Translation

Chair, fellow legislators, friends from the media, and citizens across the country watching the broadcast, good morning.

Today is President Lai Ching-te’s 725th day in office. Seven hundred and twenty-five days is not a short time. It is more than two years of daily grocery bills and household expenses for countless families; it is the anxiety young people feel about the future; it is the risk commuters face on the way to work; it is the long wait industries have endured while expecting the government to fulfill its promises.

So today, I want to ask the people of this country several very serious questions. During these 725 days, has your life become happier? During these 725 days, have you felt more well-being? During these 725 days, have you lived more securely and more steadily? Or have we seen prices continue to rise while wages fail to keep up with living costs? Or have we seen AI rapidly changing the world while many young people worry that they will be left behind by the times? Or do we leave home every morning with anxiety in chaotic traffic, hoping only to arrive safely at work? Since when did the small everyday joys of life in Taiwan, browsing online shops, watching videos, or catching up on shows after work, become endless “page loading” screens? After waiting for a long time, all we get is: “This webpage cannot be opened.” These are not abstract political slogans. These are the real daily experiences people face.

More than two years ago, a presidential candidate promised the people that if they voted for him, Taiwan would move toward a happy, joyful, and secure life. He proposed 227 campaign promises and assured the public that each would be fulfilled. He was elected and became President of the Republic of China. But today, the people ask: where are the promises? Where is the responsibility? Where is the fulfillment?

The long list I have in my hand is a media compilation of the 227 campaign promises President Lai made during the election. Among these 227 promises, only two have actually been fulfilled. One is giving priority consideration to a female vice-presidential candidate; the other is the nurse-patient ratio legislation completed through cross-party cooperation by the opposition. Apart from these, the vast majority of promises remain at the “not started” stage. In other words, President Lai’s broken-promise rate is as high as 99%. He can be called the country’s number-one “debt-dodging king,” and the speed at which he writes empty checks could qualify for the Guinness World Records. Ninety-nine percent is not a minor mistake. It is not a slight administrative delay. It is a comprehensive breach of trust with the people. Is the “Lai” in President Lai’s name the “Lai” of refusing to pay one’s debts? Is it the “Lai” of being shamelessly evasive?

Today, we propose a presidential impeachment case to remind everyone in power: presidential authority comes from the people, and presidential promises must be accountable to the people.

First, let us look at energy policy. President Lai once promised to “build a net-zero innovation technology platform.” But Taiwan today still relies heavily on natural gas and coal-fired power. Natural gas accounts for more than half of the power mix, and coal-fired power also remains high; together, the two exceed 80%. By contrast, nuclear energy, which is internationally regarded as one clean-energy option, has been almost marginalized in Taiwan. President Lai, where is the net-zero carbon reduction you promised? Why should the people pay for wrong energy policy with their own health? Energy policy is not a battlefield for ideology. It is the foundation of national security, industrial competitiveness, and public health. When the government continues to preserve the sacred tablet of a “nuclear-free homeland” and keeps high-pollution, high-carbon power generation as Taiwan’s main electricity source, all citizens and Taiwan’s industries become the victims.

Second, national security and communications resilience. President Lai promised to “strengthen national defense and national security.” But we all know that more than 90% of Taiwan’s international internet traffic depends on submarine cables. If an earthquake occurs, if a vessel accidentally damages them, or if they are deliberately sabotaged, Taiwan could face external communications disruption and even become an information island. This is not alarmism. The international community has repeatedly reminded Taiwan that it must build a diverse, heterogeneous, and resilient communications network. Yet even today, the government still has not acted aggressively. The administrative team is still unwilling to truly open Taiwan’s sky and allow more diverse satellite communications services to become part of national resilience. In normal times, a network outage is an inconvenience. In wartime, disasters, or moments of crisis, communications disruption is a national-security crisis. The people ask: where is the national-security strengthening the President promised? Does Taiwan truly have sufficient backup capacity?

Third, fair competition in the AI era. President Lai’s platform clearly stated that he would “actively eliminate the digital divide.” Yet more than 70% of people in Taiwan can only use free AI tools, and we have seen no government policy that fulfills President Lai’s promise to actively eliminate the digital divide. A professional version of an AI tool now costs more than NT$6,000 per month. “AI poverty” is eroding the social competitiveness of our young people. If the government can introduce concrete measures to achieve real digital equity and AI equity, our young people will be able to use excellent AI tools. They will be able to fact-check misinformation and know that “the Earth is not round,” but “the Earth is actually ellipsoidal.” That is why we actively advocate issuing an “AI voucher.” And that is why we cannot allow a passive and inactive president to continue delaying the future of Taiwan’s young people. The AI era should not belong to only a small number of people. It should be an era in which every child, every young person, and every worker can participate fairly.

Fourth, trade and economic diplomacy. In his economic platform, President Lai promised to promote Taiwan’s participation in regional economic cooperation mechanisms such as CPTPP. In March this year, Deputy Trade Representative Yen Hui-hsin of the Office of Trade Negotiations under the Executive Yuan passed away, which deeply saddened the country. According to reports, she wrote in her resignation letter that the government had treated the effort to join CPTPP perfunctorily, lacked concrete timelines and plans, and failed to turn the desire to join into substantive diplomacy and negotiation. Those words are a heavy warning to Taiwan’s industries. Taiwan cannot participate in international trade only through slogans. Taiwan needs negotiation, planning, and long-term, precise diplomatic effort. As other countries actively sign regional cooperation agreements, open markets, reduce tariffs, and build supply-chain advantages, if Taiwan only waits in place, the injured parties will be businesses, farmers and fishers, workers, and the competitiveness of the entire country. President Lai, where is the concrete progress on the CPTPP promise? Where is the timeline? Where are the results? As of now, this appears to be another empty check that cannot be cashed.

Fifth, road safety. President Lai promised to comprehensively improve road traffic safety and reach the goal of zero deaths by 2040. But Taiwan’s vehicle regulations are now a full ten years behind international standards. The technology gap is like other countries already using the iPhone 17 while people in Taiwan can only make calls with an old brick phone. In April this year, the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW) approved Tesla Full Self-Driving Supervised for use on highways. RDW also confirmed that the system is safer than comparable systems and that proper use of driver-assistance systems helps improve road safety. Yet in Taiwan, more than eight people still die in traffic accidents every day, and about 3,000 families are broken every year. It is precisely because of the administrative laziness of the Lai administration that advanced autonomous-driving technology is blocked from use in Taiwan by outdated regulations. It is President Lai who has deprived the people of Taiwan of the right to use advanced autonomous-driving technology. President Lai allows corrupt officials to seek profit and mediocre officials to endanger lives. What qualification does he have to continue serving as President of the Republic of China? If advanced technology can help reduce accidents, if international experience can serve as a reference, and if regulatory updates can make roads safer, why does the government not act? The cost of a government’s laziness must not be borne by people’s lives.

Next, we must discuss nurse-patient ratios across three shifts. The Ministry of Health and Welfare originally insisted that the three-shift nurse-patient ratio could not begin until two years later. Minister Shih Chung-liang even publicly linked the policy to electoral support, provoking public outrage. But before the International Nurses Day celebration, after a two-minute conversation between President Lai and the minister, the ministry immediately reversed its policy. The President then announced that the three-shift nurse-patient ratio could begin on May 20 next year.

This incident showed the people a serious problem: it was not that the government could not do it, but that it was unwilling to do it. The government had not placed people’s needs first. If a single word from the President can immediately reverse policy, then what exactly was the reason for all the previous delay?

Since when did our national governance become the expression of one person’s will? Since when did our rule-of-law state become a “Lai-rule state”? Since when were national affairs no longer handled according to institutions, but according to whether the President is willing to nod?

I calculated it for President Lai. If he is willing to move the 225 currently broken promises forward, and if he calls each minister to speak for two minutes, all of those conversations would take only 450 minutes. The entire process would take less than eight hours. One working day would be enough to reexamine the country’s major policy directions. But President Lai has been in office for 725 days, more than one million minutes. During those one million minutes, young people are still facing AI poverty. During those one million minutes, road users are still bearing traffic risks. During those one million minutes, Taiwan is still worried about inadequate communications resilience. During those one million minutes, the people are still paying health and economic costs for wrong energy policy. What the people see is not insufficient ability, but insufficient responsibility; not inability to act, but unwillingness to act; not promises that are too difficult, but promises that have been chosen to be forgotten.

Today, we propose this impeachment case to tell all future holders of power: democracy does not mean that politicians can win votes and then forget the people; democracy does not mean that those in power can obtain authority through promises and then avoid responsibility for those promises. The core of democracy is trust. When trust is betrayed again and again, when promises are broken one after another, when people’s suffering is ignored, and when the responsibilities of the state are delayed, the legislature has a duty to stand up and bring the most serious accountability on behalf of the people.

Regardless of its final result, this presidential impeachment case will leave a record in the constitutional history of the Republic of China. It will remind every future president: power is not private property, promises are not decorations, the Constitution is not a slogan, and the people are not beings who can be forgotten after an election.

Finally, I call on legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party: this moment is not about blue or green, nor about government and opposition. It is about political integrity. I hope you can stand with the people and with your conscience. In next week’s impeachment vote, please do not become a party voting machine. Please become representatives of the people. Let us correct this disorderly, lazy, and untrustworthy government together. Removing the “debt-dodging king” is everyone’s responsibility.

I want to emphasize again: my country is called the Republic of China. I love my country. Precisely because we love this country, we cannot remain silent. Precisely because we cherish democracy, we cannot allow the president to betray the people’s trust. Precisely because we are responsible to the people, we must stand up bravely today, make those who have lost trust take responsibility, bring promises back to politics, and put the country back on the right track. Thank you.