Taiwan's legislative speaker publicly attacked the president over the deadlock between the legislature and the cabinet, a bad sign for an already split government heading into local elections.

• Legislature speaker Han Kuo-yu used his National Day speech to blast President Lai Ching-te and Premier Cho Jung-tai, warning Taiwan must not be seen abroad as a "fake democracy, real dictatorship."
• Pressed the next day on whether he is positioning for the 2028 presidential race, Han stayed quiet and waved reporters off with a joke after a camera knocked his head.
• KMT allies piled on in support, with Taichung mayor Lu Shiu-yen calling the criticism honest advice and urging Lai to settle the fight between the two branches.
• Lai's own National Day speech focused on China's military and gray-zone pressure on the Taiwan Strait; Washington welcomed his pledge to keep the peace, while Beijing's Taiwan affairs office called him a "pragmatic independence worker."
• Lai also said the government will take a practical look at all energy options, read as the ruling party softening on nuclear power as AI and chip plants drive up electricity demand before the November vote.

Outlook: With local elections under 50 days away, the Han–Lai feud and the energy U-turn will likely dominate the campaign, and talk of a Han run in 2028 is not going away.