Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leaders yesterday slammed the legislature’s passage of a bill authorizing the government to recover pensions from retirees who added their years working for the KMT to public service seniority, adding they might contest the bill in the administrative courts.
People who made pension claims by combining their years working years for political parties and in public service are to be held responsible for repaying the government the excess claims within one year, when the Act on the Settlement of the Combination of Years of Service in Public Sector and Political Organizations (公職人員年資併社團專職人員年資計發退離給與處理條例) is promulgated.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said there was “historical context” at play in allowing civil servants to combine years of KMT work with public service.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“The Democratic Progressive Party’s [DPP] method of dealing with these issues is to invoke transitional justice and party asset reforms. As a minority party, the KMT feels these actions are unfair and crude,” Lin said.
The retirees targeted for pension recovery might want to litigate and it is “possible” that the next KMT chairperson — to be elected on May 20 — would likely file a class-action lawsuit, Lin added.
Among those likely be affected by the new act is former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), whose office director Ting Yuan-chao (丁遠超) yesterday said that Lien is law abiding and would follow all lawful demands, but he “absolutely rejects any stigmatization or slander” in connection to the pension claim issue.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Those in power should follow the law and keep in mind that they apply not only to objects of their immediate concern, but have unintended and long-lasting consequences, Ting said.
An unnamed staffer of former Examination Yuan president John Kuan (關中) said Kuan did not claim a pension by combining his public and private service.
“At the time, Kuan was ‘on loan’ from National Chengchi University — where he had a lecturer position — to the KMT, and his pension claim is based on a combination of years spent in public service and public education,” the staffer said.
“The act passed today is the product of political manipulation and ideology,” the staffer added.
Despite criticism from KMT heavyweights, the act received applause from most political parties.
DPP caucus secretary-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said that adding party work to public service seniority for pension claims was unjust and the act authorizing pension recovery is “only the beginning” of transitional justice efforts.
Those who do not pay back the excess pensions as required by the regulation after one year would be subject to litigation or face administrative penalties, Lee said.
DPP spokesman Wang Ming-sheng (王閔生) said the KMT’s practice of using party positions for public pension entitlements was tantamount to embezzlement, and breaches the principles of fairness and justice.
“The DPP’s firm and consistent position is that public resources should not be used for the benefit of KMT party workers,” Wang said, adding the party is proud of its caucus lawmakers in passing the bill.
“We hope the government will expedite the resolution to the issue in accordance with the law and complete transitional justice as soon as possible. Ending past malpractice is our duty to Taiwanese and people’s desire for reform,” he said.
New Power Party (NPP) caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said he is pleased that the bill cleared the legislature, adding that there is a consensus for transitional justice and the NPP is to continue working with the Presidential Office’s pension reform committee.
People First Party (PFP) caucus convener Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said the party is in “complete agreement” with the need for pension reform, adding that the DPP caucus’ draft was reasonable.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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