The pan-green camp yesterday called President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pension reform plan a “pseudo” reform, adding that his announcement that he would give up his right to the 18 percent preferential interest rate given to state employee pensions as “a selfish act to try and fix his reputation.”
Ma has flip-flopped and failed in all his reform plans during his time in office, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said, citing as examples the capital gains tax on securities transactions, the year-end bonuses for retired civil servants and the amendment of media regulation laws.
“It is difficult to teach an elephant how to dance, but it’s even more difficult to expect Ma to implement true reform,” Ker said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The government’s pension reform proposal has failed to address the core issue of pension system reform — the income replacement rate, in particular that of civil, education and military workers, Ker said.
Ma’s pledge in April last year to send amendment proposals to the Legislative Yuan was a strategy to tame a potential recall that had been tentatively planned for around May 20, the anniversary of his second inauguration, Ker said.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said Ma’s proposed pension reform would likely increase the payment gap between retired private-sector workers and civil servants, public school teachers and military personnel.
The government’s plan has sacrificed the interests of private-sector employees and low-level civil servants, DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said, adding that civil, education and military state employees’ pensions should be the focus of any reform.
Lin Wan-i (林萬億), the executive director of the DPP’s think tank, said Ma’s plan would likely infuriate non-state workers and incite a fresh wave of public discontent.
“I would not be surprised to see private-sector workers storm the legislature to ask for changes,” Lin said.
The proposal did not say how it would resolve the potential bankruptcy of the Labor Insurance Fund, the difference in pensions between various occupations and the financial vulnerability of future generations, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus whip Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said.
The “chaotic” plan was hastily prepared to assuage the public’s anger and would be unable to solve the pension system’s issues, she added.
Ma sacrificing the 18 percent preferential interest rate on his pension has nothing to do with reforming the national pension system that people from all occupations care about and are affected by, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said.
By saying that he would give up the special rate on his pension, Ma appeared to be hinting that the preferential rate would not be scrapped in its entirety, Su said.
“Giving up this preferential treatment is not something to brag about, especially since many DPP officials gave theirs up years ago,” former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said.
Separately, Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Son Yu-lian (孫友聯) called the reform a “nuclear disaster.”
Several labor groups are working to stage a large-scale demonstration against it, he added.
“[The reform plan] is like a nuclear disaster, because it’s something that happens because a few people make a mistake, but affects everyone — we would all be made victims,” Son said.
He said taking a large percentage of a worker’s income to put into their retirement pension fund deprives the worker of quality of life.
“If the government does not reconsider and revise its plan, labor groups are prepared to stage a large-scale demonstration in May,” he said.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS