The relationship between the nation's two leaders was in the limelight again yesterday as Vice President Annette Lu (
The latest controversy surfaced Friday when opposition lawmakers slammed Lu for adding burden to the nation's strained finances by insisting on an exorbitant budget for her housing as outlined in next year's spending plan.
"No one had ever consulted me before preparing the budget," Lu told the media after a social function in Taipei. "The plan is so detailed that it deserves a berth in the Guinness Book [of World Records]." At issue is NT$3.57 million in spending proposed by the Presidential Office to furnish Lu's residence on Taian Street in case she has to move out of her current housing later this year, in line with a legislative resolution.
The money will be spent on redwood chairs, cabinets, desks, dining tables, double beds, five air-conditioners, six dehumidifiers, a dishwasher, a heater, a stereo, a refrigerator, a 38-inch color TV set, and a washing machine, among other things.
"I don't know how the budget planners arrived at those figures. I don't like redwood furniture at all," Lu said emphatically. "The person in ultimate charge of the Presidential Office should come forward and give the public a clear explanation." The outspoken vice president said as a former lawmaker and Taoyuan county commissioner she was involved in preparing budget plans herself but never before had she seen "such a detailed one." Lu suggested the whole incident smelled of politics.
Later in the day, Kao Yao-chi (
She said Lu did not request to purchase any new furniture and speculated that presidential budget officials took the liberty to plan the budget out of respect for the vice president.
"The Presidential Office has to be prepared if the legislature decides to slash the vice president's housing budget for the next fiscal year," Kao said.
The opposition-controlled legislature passed a resolution last year obligating Lu to lower her housing expenses on the grounds they are too high and that many official residences sit vacant. But the vice president maintained all the residences available are too small.
Kao said the Presidential Office has no objection to Lu renting a private apartment provided she can secure support from the legislature.
To that end, the vice president said she would invite legislators to her apartment in the near future. "Then they would know I'm a frugal person," Lu said.
But KMT lawmaker Liu Kwang-hua (
New Party legislator Elmer Feng (
But Lu maintained it is better to preserve the status quo, as any change will cause inconvenience to her and the public. She said the suggested residence is located in a crowded neighborhood and that the motorcade guarding her safety would jam the nearby traffic.
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