Although lawmakers across party lines yesterday agreed to send the NT$610.8 billion (US$18 billion) special arms-procurement bill to legislative committees for further review, they cast doubt on its passage before December's elections.
"We'll do whatever we can to review the bill, but no-one can say whether it will pass into law by the end of the year," Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) told reporters after presiding over cross-party talks.
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum reached a consensus yesterday morning to send the two special draft bills on the arms procurement project proposed by the Executive Yuan and the People First Party (PFP) to the Procedure Committee, which convenes today, to set an agenda for review.
As to which of the two draft bills will be passed and when, Wang said that it was impossible to predict, and that the only thing the legislature can do is work hard to review the drafts.
The Executive Yuan is seeking to spread the special arms-procurement budget over 15 years. NT$412 billion would be earmarked for eight diesel-electric submarines, NT$145 billion would be allocated for six Patriot anti-missile systems and NT$53 billion for 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.
Opposition lawmakers, however, argued that the budget was excessive and asked the Executive Yuan to present a watered-down bill and budget request.
Because the Legislative Yuan only yesterday started its review of the government's annual budget request and will recess on Nov. 10, it is widely thought that there is not enough time to tackle the bill before the legislative elections.
The recess will last for a month during the lead-up to the Dec. 11 poll. The legislature is scheduled to resume sitting on Dec. 13 and has devoted three days, from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23, to a review of the budget request. Lawmakers hope it will pass its second and third readings -- generally legislative formalities after the more contentious first reading -- by Dec. 28.
The Cabinet has proposed a budget with spending projected to reach NT$1.62 trillion (US$49.1 billion) and income forecast at just NT$1.38 trillion (US$41.8 billion) for the fiscal year beginning Jan 1.
The projected expenditure represents a 2.1 percent increase compared with this year, while annual income is expected to grow by 3.3 percent.
The NT$235.5 billion shortfall and NT$60 billion in debt repayment would be covered by issuing NT$255 billion in public bonds, as well as a surplus of NT$31.1 billion from the current fiscal year, which ends Dec. 31.
Opposition lawmakers have threatened to slash the budgets of the Presidential Office, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that his party will do its best to pass the budget request, but he did not think it was a good idea to enter into discussions on the details of budget cuts before the legislative elections.
"Opposition lawmakers will take advantage of this opportunity to be irrational because of the upcoming elections," he said.
PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) expressed a similar opinion.
"We don't have much time to tackle the annual budget because of a limited schedule before the legislative polls," he said. "To prevent handling the matter in haste, it sounds like a better idea to debate the issue before the elections but wait until after the elections to discuss more detailed issues such as how much money to cut."
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said that his party will devote equal time to studying the annual budget request and arms-procurement budget, regardless of the legislative poll.
"We have assigned lawmakers with professional expertise to each of the [legislative] committees to review the budget," he said. "We're determined to serve as a responsible gatekeeper for taxpayers' money."
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