Taiwan's opposition parties blocked President Lai's entire slate of government watchdog nominees, a sharp political defeat for the ruling DPP and a sign of deepening deadlock in parliament.

• The opposition KMT and TPP voted together to reject all 27 nominees, including the proposed head of the Control Yuan, Chen Yung-hsing.
• None of the nominees reached the majority needed, leaving the watchdog body without confirmed members.
• The KMT said the body has lost its teeth, costing taxpayers a fortune while failing to investigate real scandals, and accused the nominees of being too close to the ruling party.
• Three ballots were void, including one from a DPP lawmaker who abstained because a nominee is her sister-in-law.
• The KMT is pushing Lai to rethink both his picks and the whole nomination process rather than blame parliament.

Outlook: Lai will have to put forward a new slate, and the standoff points to a broader fight over whether to reform or shrink the watchdog body itself.