A cross-committee budget review of the Cabinet’s proposed Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program was thrown into disarray at the legislature yesterday as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers clashed over who should chair the meeting.
The meeting was presided over by the Cabinet’s Finance Committee, of which KMT Legislator Luo Ming-tsai (羅明才) and DPP Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) are conveners.
On Monday, when the review began, the KMT caucus sought to have Luo chair the session, but later said that Wang could take the role.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
However, KMT lawmakers yesterday said that Luo must chair the meeting, entering the venue shouting: “Here comes the chairman.”
They occupied the chairperson’s podium, triggering an altercation with DPP lawmakers.
Male lawmakers of both parties shoved and tackled one another, while female legislators tried to edge opposing lawmakers off the podium that was to be used by Executive Yuan officials during a legislative question-and-answer session before the meeting.
DPP lawmakers secured the podium, but the KMT occupied the two podiums for lawmakers and officials.
Each side accused the other of using violence, while the KMT said that the DPP had made an illegal, unilateral decision that Wang should chair the meeting.
When the room settled, Luo showed written agreements from cross-caucus negotiations in March that said he and Wang had the right to schedule and chair committee reviews.
He and Wang should take turns as chairman, Luo said.
Wang announced the start of the session, but Luo sought to take over as chairman, making announcements throughout the meeting using a microphone the KMT caucus had prepared.
The proceedings again descended into conflict when DPP Legislator Karen Yu (余宛如), the first lawmaker to speak, was at the legislators’ podium.
KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) attempted to take over the podium while Yu was speaking, but he was dismissed by DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟).
KMT Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) wrestled with DPP Legislator Hsu Yu-jen (許毓仁), who sustained a minor injury.
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) climbed onto a desk and disabled one of the loudspeakers in an attempt to silence DPP announcements.
New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that he should be given time to question officials, calling Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦), Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) to the podium.
Seeing the podium had been occupied, Wang declined Huang’s demand.
Huang said he must be allowed to press Premier Lin Chuan (林全) to “own up to the mistakes” the Cabinet made preparing the budget for the program and that Lin should explain the Executive Yuan’s debt repayment plan for the program, the first stage of which has its budget capped at NT$420 billion (US$13.83 billion) over four years.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that despite repeated KMT demands, the Executive Yuan refused to revise the program and its budget proposals, because the “pork barrels” the DPP administration had doled out to local governments were worth NT$882.49 billion — the budget proposed by the DPP when it first unveiled the program — rather than NT$420 billion.
The NPP caucus accused KMT legislators of pursuing a “disguised shielding” of the infrastructure plans using legislative boycotts that have interfered with question-and-answer sessions.
“Even if they are wearing the skin of a boycott, the result is a shielding of the plans, because [the KMT’s tactics] guarantee that government officials and those who have written the plans will not face questions from legislators,” NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said.
As for today’s cross-committee review, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said that as the KMT does not acknowledge the legitimacy of Wang as chairman, it would continue with its obstruction tactics.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
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