Kaohsiung’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayor, Chen Chu (陳菊), yesterday protested a Cabinet decision that she said left the city government with insufficient time to propose a major construction priority list.
Chen told a press conference in Taipei that the Kaohsiung City Government was not notified of the proposal until 4pm on Tuesday.
“[The Cabinet] required all local governments to immediately propose a priority list within 24 hours. Of course the quality will be questionable,” she said.
She alleged that the Cabinet might have deliberately sent late notices to city and county governments run by the DPP.
“I guess the Cabinet was testing [the ability] of the cities and counties governed by the DPP,” she said.
“If [the cities and counties] were treated differently just because the local governments are run by a different political party, I believe such an attitude will lead to controversies and inequality [between local governments] in the future,” Chen said.
Although the Cabinet decided that Kaohsiung City will receive NT$3.8 billion in the Cabinet’s planned budget to boost domestic demand, Chen urged the Cabinet to allocate the budget after considering the demand and development of each city and county.
Meanwhile, the legislature resolved to extend the current legislative session through July 18 to allow sufficient time to deal with budget requests from state-run enterprises and the new Cabinet’s budget proposals.
The legislature will also invite the premier to report his administrative principles next Friday while the new Cabinet’s budget requests will be submitted to the legislature on June 2.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) also urged the DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucuses to negotiate with the central government regarding when the legislature will deal with the Presidential Office’s nomination lists of members of the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan. The lists are scheduled to be sent to the legislature on June 23.
In a related development, the KMT caucus has invited the premier to report on the Cabinet’s policy in response to rising oil prices during today’s caucus meeting.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
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