The Ministry of the Interior has proposed amending the Law on Local Government Systems (地方制度法) to place the special municipalities of Taipei City and Kaohsiung City on the same level as counties and cities. The plan drew an immediate backlash. Some saw the plan as not only an attempt to scrap the two special municipalities but also as "Ma-bashing" -- attacking Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- by repeating the political struggles seen when the Taiwan Provincial Government was downsized a few years ago.
However, there has been no platform for communication between the two special municipalities and local governments ever since the downsizing of the provincial government. That means there is no official mechanism for coordination and negotiation when disputes occur. The "equalization" plan is actually an effort to build reasonable admin-istrative links between the central and local governments. That being so, the equalization could simply upgrade the status of local governments to "special counties" or "semi-special municipalities," not to downgrade the two cities.
It's inconceivable that the special municipalities could be downgraded since their millions of citizens would likely protest. It's more likely that the government will upgrade the local counties and cities. In that case, however, the following two major problems will occur.
First, the size of the local government organizations will expand to equal that of the two special municipalities. This will lead to a huge increase in personnel expenditures.
Second, the means of allocation of government revenues and expenditures will have to be re-adjusted. The central and local governments will then enter a veritable Warring States Period (戰國時代) of conflict over money.
In view of the nation's financial difficulties, if both central and local governments are unwilling to raise taxes, their budgets will be insufficient to meet demands and support increased personnel expenditure. The central government will then simply remain incapable of administering to the needs of local government.
It is imperative that the status of the counties and cities be upgraded if a sensible operational relationship is to be established between the Executive Yuan and local government. But it's also necessary for local government to avoid "self-fattening," since they may seize the chance to increase their personnel or raise their ranking in the name of reforms.
Moreover, the geographical size and the populations of the local governments differ widely. Both manpower and material resources in the larger counties are insufficient. It's necessary for the administrative districts to be redrawn to create a better balance among the local governments and help them become autonomous. Otherwise, if the status of local governments is simply changed -- regardless of the differences in their finances, population and size -- it will simply generate more insoluble problems.
Jan Shou-jung is a former legislative assistant.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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