The Taiwanese government is to face a no-confidence vote on Saturday, brought by opposition parties over what they see as the cabinet's failure to curb rising unemployment and inflation.
The vote against Premier Sean Chen from the ruling Kuomintang was put forward by the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with support from the smaller Taiwan Solidarity Union.
The measure was unveiled as opposition legislators used the opening day of a new parliamentary term on Tuesday to pile pressure on Chen.
Dozens of lawmakers joined a brief sit-in at parliament to ram home the message, shouting "Change the Cabinet!" "Save the Economy!"
The vote is unlikely to succeed as the Kuomintang controls parliament.
Wu Yu-sheng, the Kuomintang's whip, condemned the bid and vowed the party would do all it could to defeat it.
"We regret the opposition's move, which will cause political turbulence to Taiwan when it is already struggling amid the global economic downturn," he told reporters.
"We'll do everything we can to stop the bid."
The opposition move comes amid mounting anger that Taiwan's income levels have remained nearly flat for the past decade as factories have moved production to China to cash in on its cheaper labour and land.
Inflation hit a four-year-high of 3.42 percent in August on the back of soaring food prices after two destructive typhoons, while the export-reliant economy shrank 0.18 percent year-on-year in the three months to June.
