A proposal sponsored by pan-blue legislators to reinstate an 18 percent special interest rate on savings for retired civil servants, military personnel and teachers failed to pass in the legislature yesterday as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said they were prepared to launch a filibuster should the pan-blues attempt to force passage of the proposal.
In November last year, the Executive Yuan passed an administrative order abolishing the preferential pension interest rate because the nation's banks only offer savings account interest rates of 1 percent to 2 percent.
Pan-blue lawmakers yesterday demanded that their proposal to nullify the Executive Yuan's administrative order be reviewed as the first bill of the day's agenda on the floor, but DPP lawmakers insisted that establishing a statute for creating a committee to manage labor pension funds should come first.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tried to begin cross-party negotiations on the agenda at 9am, but because lawmakers failed to reach consensus on it and a handful of other controversial bills, the meeting was adjourned until Tuesday.
DPP Legislator Lin Shu-shan (
"The lawmakers who enjoy the 18 percent preferential interest rate -- or who have family members that enjoy it -- should not voice an opinion about the proposal," Lin told the press.
PFP Spokesman Lee Hung-chun (
"They deserved the preferential pension system," he said.
DPP Legislator Lu Tien-lin (盧天麟) said that his party's proposed statute to create a committee to manage labor pension funds would benefit the country and millions of laborers.
"Labor pensions have accumulated to NT$126 billion so far. Without the committee, the government can't manage the funds in an efficient way," Lu said.
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