The opposition alliance has vowed to attach a resolution to a bill that will decide the budget of state-run enterprises. The clause will require that managers of these enterprises be replaced if they fail to post the gains that had been projected for the end of the year.
The legislature will soon wrap up reviewing the balance sheets for corporations that fall under the direct or indirect supervision of the ministries of economics, finance, defense and transportation.
Together, these firms forecast a net gain of NT$161.6 billion for this year.
The central bank and Chunghwa Telecom will contribute NT$65 billion and NT$60 billion, respectively, said Chang Wan-chuan (張萬全), director of the legislature's Budget Center.
The figure means that most of the rest of the companies in which the government has a stake, expect to post losses, which will be offset by tax dollars Chang said.
Earlier, the KMT and the PFP struck an eight-point accord that recommends, among other things, the dismissal of heads of state-run firms that fail to achieve 80 percent of the projected profits.
The ruling coalition, consisting of the DPP and the TSU, is expected to boycott the measure, because some state-run firms' executives only recently took office.
Currently, there are 12 enterprises that are fully controlled by the Commission of National Corporations under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. They include Taiwan Power Co, Chinese Petroleum Corp, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp, Taiwan Chung Hsing Paper Corp, Taiwan Sugar Corp, China Shipbuilding Corp, Taiwan Salt Industrial Corp, Taiwan Machinery Manufacturing Corp and Tang Eng Iron Works Co.
To prevent lawmakers from giving them a hard time, some of these companies have forecast only modest gains, Chang said.
China Shipbuilding Corp, for example, estimates that it would make a profit of only NT$121 million from its expected annual business turnover of NT$18.8 billion. Official statistics show that the company registered a loss of NT$6.7 billion in 2000.
Likewise, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp and Tang Eng Iron Works Co have predicted a meager profit of NT$24 million and NT$18 million, respectively -- less than 1 percent of their estimated turnover volumes of NT$13.3 billion and NT$18.5 billion.
The opposition alliance is also expected to press the Cabinet to come up with a concrete plan for how it intends to return funds earmarked for the future dismantling of nuclear power plants.
Under former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The loan infuriated Aboriginal legislators who argue that the government could have used the money to remove radioactive waste from Orchid Island.
PFP legislative whip Diane Lee (李慶安) said her party is thinking about referring Chang, now a senior adviser to the president, to the Control Yuan -- so that the Yuan can investigate whether he neglected his duties.
The opposition will also seek to ban the government from owning more than 20 percent of the stocks of firms that it plans to privatize.
The government remains the largest shareholder in the enterprises it has privatized over the years -- such as China Steel Corp, Taiwan Fertilizer Corp, Taiwan Cement Corp, Yao Hwa Glass Corp, Taiwan and Industrial Development Corp.
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