EDITORIAL: The tyranny of the majorityOn the last day of the extended legislative session on Friday last week, the Legislative Yuan, with a slight majority held by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), continued to refuse to review the government’s annual budget for this year, which is already overdue. It was the first time in Taiwan’s constitutional history that the government budget was not reviewed in its supposed legislative session. Instead, the opposition rushed to pass three controversial bills, which many people have criticized as self-serving. This has also been criticized as effectively returning over NT$40 billion (US$1.27 billion) in ill-gotten assets during the martial law period to the KMT. The next legislative session is expected to commence on Feb. 24, after the Lunar New Year holidays, but it is doubtful that the KMT and the TPP would suddenly learn that a healthy democracy does not operate solely on the “tyranny of the majority” in the Legislative Yuan.

Source: Taipei Times February 01, 2026 18:12 UTC