A protest only has meaning when it is supported by a clear rationale and purpose, which appear to be missing in the ongoing demonstrations by military retirees against the government’s proposed pension cuts.
The Executive Yuan earlier this month finalized draft amendments to the Act of Military Service for Officers and Noncommissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例), which, if passed by the Legislative Yuan, would set the minimum monthly pension for veterans at NT$38,990 and gradually phase out over a 10-year period the controversial 18 percent preferential interest rate on savings accounts offered to those who worked in government service.
Pension reforms are always a powder keg for governments the world over, as they often involve a strenuous process of back-and-forth negotiations and compromises and are never short of critics and opponents.
That is why no politicians want to open the pension Pandora’s box unless it is absolutely necessary to prevent an even worse scenario: Seeing pension funds go insolvent.
The 800 Heroes veterans’ group has been camping outside the Legislative Yuan compound since February last year to protest against the Democratic Progressive Party administration’s pension reform plans, and on Wednesday some of its members were responsible for injuring dozens of police officers and journalists when their bid to breach the compound turned violent.
At a time when there is a national consensus that pension cuts are a bitter, but necessary medicine required to salvage the cash-strapped pension programs, all of the 800 Heros’ demands come down to one simple, but impossible request: no cuts.
Despite having no clear or feasible demands from the group to work with, the government went ahead with its efforts to revise the pension plans for veterans in the hope of making them more acceptable and ending the backlash.
For example, the government has planned to increase the basic monthly pension for veterans from NT$32,160, which was initially proposed for all three groups affected by the reforms: public servants, public school teachers and military personnel.
However, its efforts and goodwill gestures have been to no avail, as the veterans have never been interested in negotiating with the government, as evidenced by the 800 Heros’ failure to present a counterproposal to the proposed overhaul.
Instead, over the past year the veterans’ protest has gradually disappeared from the mass media amid the fast-paced news cycle, which might have prompted some of the protesters to resort to violence in a desperate attempt to attract media attention.
Efforts to storm the Legislative Yuan in imitation of the 2014 Sunflower movement, simply for the sake of creating a disturbance, is simply further evidence of their lack of a solid plan.
Storming a government building alone accomplishes nothing, unless it leads to the authorities and demonstrators sitting down to negotiate, but if negotiations are not actually what is wanted, then what is the point?
The real question is whether the retired officers and other veterans are really interested in finding a solution, or if they are simply trying to vent their anger and embarrass the government?
If it is the latter, the protesters are not only wasting their own time, but that of the general public, the police and the media, while inflicting damage and causing harm.
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