Taiwan's opposition TPP is voting as a bloc against the entire slate of Control Yuan nominees, a setback for the government's appointments and another sign of gridlock in the legislature.

• The TPP caucus decided all its lawmakers will vote no on the Control Yuan president, vice president, and member nominees.
• The stated reason: the watchdog body handled only a tiny share of the 82,000 public complaints it received last year, while its budget rose from NT$2.2 billion to NT$2.9 billion.
• The caucus also accuses it of shielding the powerful — naming stalled cases involving a former cabinet spokesman, a misused employment fund, a procurement scandal, and a baseball stadium project.
• Some Control Yuan members were faulted for misusing official cars and getting nothing more than an apology in return.
• The party wants the Control Yuan abolished outright and says it will keep pushing that in the constitutional amendment committee.

Outlook: The nominees still need a legislative majority, so the fight now shifts to whether the KMT joins the TPP in blocking them — and to a longer campaign to scrap the body entirely.