U.S.-Asia Law Institute at NYU School of Law

Ever since elections in 2024 gave the presidency to one party and the legislature to its rivals, Taiwan’s political arena has been the scene of non-stop drama. When the Nationalist Party and its ally in the legislature tried to expand their power to oversee the executive branch, the Constitutional Court ruled them out of line and the legislature responded by shutting down the court. When the Democratic Progressive Party-led executive branch claimed power to exercise a pocket veto of legislation it didn’t like, the opposition in the legislature began a process to impeach the president even though they lack the numbers to achieve their goal. Nathan Batto, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science in Taiwan’s Academia Sinica and expert on Taiwan’s elections, will explain how Taiwan’s government structure, political culture, and other factors have contributed to the current crisis, how the Taiwanese public is responding, and the possible impact on Taiwan’s delicate international standing.