The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it would appeal to the people to take to the streets if President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, in the face of pressure from some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and retired public servants, reverses a Cabinet decision to cut year-end bonuses for retired government employees.
“The DPP has taken an unequivocal stance that the year-end bonuses of retired government officials should all be cut. In the meantime, the party will pay close attention to the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan to see if they flinch under the growing pressure,” DPP Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) said.
Lin said if the Ma administration did “chicken out” from the proposed benefit cut, it would most likely galvanize a disastrous social storm and see a full-fledged rebuttal from the party.
Despite being a minority party in the legislature, Lin said the DPP would respond to such a reversal by resorting to public opinion and seeking to counterattack by taking to the streets to let the voice of the people be heard.
Lin made the remarks after Premier Sean Chen said during a question-and-answer session in the legislature on Friday that he was open to ideas and suggestions as the rule for the distribution of the year-end benefits has not yet been drawn up.
In light of the country’s fiscal straits, Chen reiterated that the government would seek to hammer out relevant regulations early next year based on the principle of administering to the disadvantaged and to those who had made sacrifices for the nation.
Chen’s attitude began to soften on the much-scrutinized benefits for retirees from the military, the government and public schools after the Cabinet’s decision drew criticism from retired officials, with some even threatening to seek Ma’s impeachment if the proposed cut is not scrapped.
About one-quarter of KMT lawmakers, led by KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), are also said to be formulating a motion that the budget allocated to the Lunar New Year benefit not be cut and be enshrined in law.
The budget of NT$20.2 billion (US$697 million) which is earmarked for 445,708 public-sector retirees who opted to receive retirement benefits in monthly installments rather than one lump sum has been put under severe scrutiny in the media and has been criticized by the public as being unfair to non-government retirees.
Amid rising discontent over the controversial benefits, Chen on Oct. 23 announced a plan to slash the number of beneficiaries to only two groups of people — retirees or the family of deceased retirees who receive a monthly pension of less than NT$20,000, and retirees or the families of deceased reirees who were killed, injured or disabled in wars or in military exercises.
Under the proposed cut, only 40,000 people would qualify for the bonuses, which is estimated to cost the government about 80 percent less that the original budget.
Meanwhile, responding to former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) call on Friday for various political parties and people from all sectors of society to hold state-affairs meetings on pension reform, Lin said several DPP legislators have already tendered a similar motion which was passed in a Tuesday legislative meeting
“Although the motion is not legally binding, the government should nevertheless lend some weight to what it proposes, “Lin said.
According to Lin, the DPP has established a task force charged with reviewing retirement benefits for government retirees and other problematic and debt-laden social insurance pension systems, such as the Labor Insurance Fund, to facilitate a resolution on the highly publicized issues.
DPP headquarters is to call a meeting tomorrow with its legislative caucus to deliberate on several hot-button issues, with a discussion on the feasibility of setting up a legislative special committee and holding state-affairs conferences to address the pension matter being given top priority.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard