The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday published its accounts and accused the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee of being “worse than pirates,” saying it disseminates false information in order to force the KMT to use funds allocated for administrative expenses to pay its employees’ salaries.
The committee said that the KMT still has NT$85 million (US$2.69 million) in a political donations account with Chunghwa Post that it could use to pay party workers.
However, KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said that up until Sunday, the account contained NT$64 million, with NT$31 million of that raised by local party headquarters and not available for central headquarters’ use.
The KMT’s local committees are in essence volunteer workers who raise funds for their own use, Tsai said, adding that the funds are showing up in the account due to the necessity of providing receipts.
The KMT’s administrative fees total NT$20 million per month, while personnel salaries total NT$45 million per month, Tsai said, adding that the money in the political donations account was insufficient to pay all party workers.
The accounts published on Tuesday showed that the KMT turned a profit of NT$2.4 billion from January to September, including income from properties under trust worth NT$1.9 billion, party membership fees of NT$289 million and political party subsidies of NT$278 million.
However, the KMT’s expenses were listed at NT$1.9 billion, including administrative expenses of NT$1.2 billion and human resource expenses of NT$787 million.
The party wired the remaining NT$500 million into a Bank SinoPac account that was frozen by the committee, Tsai said, adding that an additional NT$356 million, as well as a Bank of Taiwan check for NT$468 million, were also frozen in the account.
The party’s other accounts with the Bank of Taiwan, Chunghwa Post and Taishin Bank were not frozen and the party has NT$6.16 million in cash, which was withdrawn from the party’s membership fees accounts, Tsai said.
Unless the committee lifts the freeze on the Bank SinoPac account, the KMT is unable to pay its workers, Tsai said, adding that the committee is using its powers for political gains.
Committee spokesperson Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said that although the KMT said that more than half of the NT$60 million in its political donations account was raised by local party headquarters and the central party has no right to use it, the funds were still listed as “political donations.”
“The KMT has the money,” Shih said.
The committee is willing to lift the freeze on KMT accounts provided that the KMT provides a plan showing how it would use the funds, Shih said, adding that when one’s family fortunes are on the decline, one should attempt to find a way to turn things around.
The committee is willing to submit to a public inspection to gauge whether its decisions have overstepped boundaries, become twisted with outside motives, or still meet society’s expectations, Shih said.
The KMT, with its existing funds and some additional fund-raising, is capable of paying its workers, Shih said.
Additional reporting by Yang Chun-hui
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