The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus is to attempt to stall budget reviews of the Cabinet’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program until the next legislative session in September, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said yesterday.
Lin made the remark after a KMT caucus meeting that followed a committee meeting to review budget proposals for the program.
He said that it is likely the budget requests would clear committee review, but a large majority of them would likely be set aside for further discussion at cross-party negotiations during the third extraordinary session, which is to start on Aug. 20.
The KMT caucus is confident it can postpone the review past a plenary session late next month, as KMT lawmakers have prepared thousands of motions to freeze, in part or in full, budget requests the Cabinet proposed for projects of the infrastructure program, Lin said.
The caucus would table the motions all at once at a plenary session next month, he said.
As each motion needs to be voted on, it is unlikely that proposals would be passed before the next legislative session, he said.
That would mean the legislature would continue reviewing the proposals in September at the earliest if a vote on a change of agenda were to gain support from a majority of lawmakers, he said.
The KMT’s plans to freeze proposals mainly target railway construction projects, which — although not reflected in the earliest stages of the program — would take up the largest slice of the budget, Lin said.
The party hopes to cut the funds earmarked for rail construction by between one-third and one-half, and use the money for other projects of the infrastructure program that the public has high expectations for — such as plans to boost the low birth rate, prevent flooding and increase salaries for young people, he said.
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