Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lee Shih-chuan (李四川) yesterday said that the Cabinet has no intention of lowering the threshold used to distribute year-end bonuses to retired military officers, teachers and civil servants this year.
The issue was recently brought up by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), who proposed widening eligibility for the bonuses, while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as party chairman, has also suggested re-evaluating the standard, which states that only those receiving NT$25,000 (US$813) or less in monthly retirement funds are entitled to the year-end bonus.
Critics have interpreted Ma’s remarks as a ploy to consolidate the pan-blue voter base in Taipei to boost Lien’s bid.
Lee was asked about the issue yesterday in the legislature when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) asked whether the Cabinet plans to make those receiving pensions of NT$25,000 or more eligible to claim the bonus.
In response, Lee said that the policy is unlikely to change before the Lunar New Year holiday because the Cabinet has already submitted its budget to the legislature.
“The Executive Yuan has made it very clear that the NT$25,000 cutoff is what should be used to determine whether an individual is qualified to receive the bonus,” Lee said.
Lee said that the number of recipients had increased from 70,000 to 12,000 now, adding that the nation has about 440,000 retired military officers, teachers and civil servants. Given this, it would require additional expenditure of NT$19 billion if each and every one of them qualified for the bonus, Lee added.
However, he maintained that the government would re-evaluate the standard next year, taking into account the economy and government finances at that time.
Yao said that the Executive Yuan should explain clearly to the public that there would not be any changes made before the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections.
KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) said the Cabinet needs to do what is right and provide clear explanations to avoid criticism.
Additional reporting by CNA
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