Premier of Taiwan

Constitutional roles

The premier presides over the Executive Yuan Council, which makes up the official cabinet. The vice premier, ministers, and chairpersons of the Executive Yuan Council are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier. The premier's official duties also include presenting administrative policies and reports to legislators, responding to the interpellations of legislators (similar to Question Time in some parliamentary systems), and, with the approval of the president, asking legislators to reconsider their resolutions. Laws and decrees promulgated by the president must also be countersigned by the premier.

In the event of vacancies in both the presidency and the vice presidency, the premier serves as acting president of the republic for up to three months.

Although the premier is appointed without legislative approval, one-third of the legislators may initiate a no-confidence vote against the premier. If approved with simple majority, the premier must resign from office within ten days and at the same time may request that the president dissolve the Legislative Yuan. If the motion fails, another no-confidence motion against the same premier cannot be initiated for one year. This power has never been used. In practice, the president has enough legitimacy and executive authority to govern in the face of a legislature controlled by the opposition, and would likely respond to a vote of no-confidence by nominating another person with similar views.

Executive and legislative powers

The Constitution of the Republic of China did not originally define strictly the relation between the premier and the president of the Republic and it was not clear whether the government would lean towards a presidential system or parliamentary system when divided. Power shifted to Premier Chiang Ching-kuo after President Chiang Kai-shek's death but shifted to the presidency again when Chiang Ching-kuo became president. After President Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang as president in 1988, the power struggle within the Kuomintang extended to the constitutional debate over the relationship between the president and the premier. The first three premiers under Lee, Yu Kuo-hwa, Lee Huan and Hau Pei-tsun, were mainlanders who had initially opposed Lee's ascension to power. The appointment of Lee and Hau were compromises by President Lee to placate the conservative mainlander faction in the party. The subsequent appointment of premier Lien Chan was taken as a sign of Lee's consolidation of power. Moreover, during this time, the power of the premier to approve the president's appointments and the power of the Legislative Council to confirm the president's choice of premier was removed (out of fears that the Democratic Progressive Party would one day gain control of the legislature), clearly establishing the president as the more powerful position of the two.

The relationship between the premier and the legislature again became a contentious issue after the 2000 presidential election, in which the DPP's Chen Shui-bian won the presidency, while the legislature remained under a KMT-led pan-Blue majority. Initially, President Chen Shui-bian appointed Tang Fei, a KMT member, as premier; however, Chen's subsequent appointments were from the DPP, establishing minority governments. However, the KMT and its coalition partners contended that Chen's actions were unconstitutional, and proposed naming their own choice of premier.

When Chen's successor Ma Ying-jeou and his KMT party lost the majority in the legislature, Ma reached out to the DPP, but the DPP declined to provide input; thus presidents subsequently appointed premiers largely from their own parties and the established constitutional convention is that the premier is responsible to the president and does not have any responsibility to the legislature other than to report on his activities. There are calls for a constitutional amendment to better define the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government.