Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to pass the DPP’s version of legislation related to farmers’ subsidies in the legislature as soon as possible.
The KMT, which enjoys a majority in the Legislative Yuan, should take the initiative to solve the controversial issue, which has been stalled for months, Tsai said during a presidential campaign stop in Miaoli County.
“We urge President Ma and the KMT to stop its stalling tactics and end its refusal to initiate inter--party negotiation on the bill by speeding up the legislation process to pass the bill before the current legislative session concludes,” she said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The DPP and the KMT have been engaged in a fierce debate about increasing the elderly farmers’ monthly subsidy, which is NT$6,000 per month.
Different proposals, including ones drafted by the DPP caucus, the KMT caucus, the Executive Yuan and several KMT legislators, still need to be discussed in the legislature.
The DPP caucus proposed raising the monthly subsidy by NT$1,000, but the Executive Yuan on Oct. 20 decided it should be increased by NT$316.
Tsai said that the production of various agricultural produce around the country, — and fruit in particular — has become unbalanced of late.
“However, President Ma has turned a blind eye to the phenomenon, which is difficult to understand because Ma has been traveling around the nation and should be able to understand what is happening,” she added.
The amendment to the Temporary Statute Regarding the Welfare Pension of Senior Farmers (老年農民福利津貼暫行條例) has not cleared the legislature because the issue of farmers’ subsidies has come to resemble a bidding war between the two parties ahead of the Jan. 14 presidential and legislative elections.
While the DPP has proposed an increase to NT$7,000, a number of KMT legislators have come up with different proposals, including increases to NT$7,500 and NT$10,000 a month.
Three KMT legislators, Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和), Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) and Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞), have said that they would firmly oppose the Executive Yuan’s proposal.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS