Firing criticism at the opposition, the DPP yesterday unveiled its third in a series of campaign commercials which brands opposition lawmakers as "barbarians" for killing the Cabinet's NT$2.7 billion budget.
The party said that the budget would have helped local governments improve their sewerage systems which would have safeguarded against typhoon damage.
"Having reviewed the budget's details, these opposition legislators still willfully endorsed cutting it back," DPP secretary general Wu Nai-jen (
The five opposition legislators targeted in the new ad are Chang Fu-hsin (張福興), the KMT's candidate for Hualien County Commissioner; Chu Li-luan (朱立倫), KMT candidate for Taoyuan County Commissioner; Chen Rong-shen (陳榮盛), KMT Tainan mayoral candidate; KMT legislator Lin Junq-jzer (林政則), and People First Party legislator Chen Chen-sheng (陳振盛).
Wu said that the five -- along with 12 other opposition legislators -- have impeded local development by cutting funds that were earmarked for public construction, child welfare and school students' computer lessons.
In response, opposition lawmakers yesterday accused the DPP of "smear tactics" and insisted that they have fully supported the government's budget for local development.
"The DPP is adept at smearing [reputations] and running elections, but is incapable of running [the country]," Lin said yesterday, adding that the accusations against him are groundless.
Lin said that the budget was killed on June 5 -- one day before the Cabinet gave the legislature the proposal's details.
Lin said he will consider filing a lawsuit against the DPP because "the party lacks political morals and does whatever it takes to win elections."
However, earlier yesterday Wu said that the Cabinet was asked for the budget's details on June 5 and submitted them to the legislature the same day. "But they still killed it [the budget] that evening," Wu said.
Nevertheless, Chang yesterday disagreed with Wu.
Chang said that the budget, included in the Cabinet's additional budget proposal, was voted on as a package. He said that legislators would not have been able to single out specific items within the budget.
"Could any legislator be so dumb as to cut the budget for his hometown?" Chang said, adding that the ad has only worsened the stand-off between the legislature and the executive branches.
Chang demanded that the DPP prove the accusations against him.
Chu said that it is a legislator's job to scrutinize the government's budget, saying that responsible legislators would not pass any budget without a clear explanation as to how the funds would be used.
"If legislators pass budgets without carefully reviewing the budgets' details, that would be a case of neglect," Chu said yesterday.
Chu yesterday urged voters to punish the DPP by voting against its candidates.
But the DPP's Wu said the ad had its intended effect of showcasing the opposition's faults while highlighting the successes of the DPP.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)