The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday finally consented to support Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) in scaling down year-end pension benefits for government retirees at Lunar New Year next year.
With the consensus reached among KMT lawmakers, the legislature is expected to cut the benefits budget of NT$20.2 billion (US$694.1 million), included in the government’s budget statement for next year, to NT$1.14 billion when the budget bill goes to the legislative floor.
The initial budget was to be distributed to 445,708 retirees from the military, the government, public schools and state-owned enterprises who have opted to receive their retirement pensions in monthly installments instead of one lump sum. Every retiree used to receive a bonus equivalent to 1.5 months of their pre-retirement salary ahead of the Lunar New Year, similar to year-end bonuses for active civil servants.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
If the budget is cut as planned, an estimated 42,000 people will still receive the bonus — retirees or the families of deceased retirees who receive a monthly retirement pension of less than NT$20,000 and families of retirees who were killed, injured or disabled in wars, on military exercises or in other public service.
The decision was made at a caucus meeting attended by 60 KMT lawmakers, out of a total of 64.
Speaking after the meeting, KMT caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said his caucus “has held in high esteem” retired military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers, and “felt sorry” for them about the decision.
“However, in consideration of the situation the nation is in and its fiscal position, we should cut our coat according to our cloth. We have to make necessary adjustments,” Wu said.
The bonuses for government retirees, the scale of which is decided on a yearly basis, have been in place since 1972, with just a few exceptions where the government suspended their distribution or reduced the size of the bonus when the nation was in financially difficult situations.
In early October, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) raised doubts over the pension system, at a time when Chen appeared reticent to guarantee pensions under the Labor Insurance Fund, which is heading for bankruptcy. This highlighted the long-existing gap between benefits for the ordinary working class and civil servants, a major reason the pension was found not to be justified.
The DPP demanded that the pension system be done away with once and for all on the grounds that the legitimacy of the subsidy is also questionable.
Through the decades, distribution of the bonus was not dictated by law, but was based on a “note” the Cabinet drew up at the end of every year.
Chen only agreed that the proposed limited coverage of the bonus policy will be applicable for this coming Lunar New Year, but he has promised to institutionalize the system by enshrining it in law. He has not given a timeframe.
At the KMT caucus meeting, KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), whose constituents in Taoyuan County are mostly beneficiaries of the pension, proposed that the caucus hold a secret ballot to decide on the caucus’ stance on the issue — a way in which a rejection of Chen’s reform plan could be engineered.
Sun’s proposal was voted down 11-23. After about 16 lawmakers offered opinions on the issue, with some still voicing opposing views, Wu proposed a motion to support the Cabinet proposal, which was then approved by acclamation.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique