The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party, holding a majority in the legislature, have continued to mess with our country’s Constitution and governance, pushing through huge budget cuts and bills that would undermine the country’s development.
The KMT caucus proposed slashing NT$77,000 (US$2,350) and freezing NT$70 million of the Ministry of Education’s Youth Development Administration’s budget. They said it was because Cosmopolitan Culture Action Taichung, a civic group subsidized by the youth agency, takes part in social movements.
This is no longer a legitimate act of oversight of the administration by the legislature. The opposition lawmakers are using the budget review as a tool to exercise political suppression, threatening Taiwan’s democracy and civil society.
The KMT caucus uses the right to review the budget as a tool of suppression, which goes against the principle of separation of powers. Under a democratic system, an administration, a legislature and a judiciary each performs its own function and has the power to check the other two, creating a balance between the three separate powers of the state.
However, the KMT interferes in the administration’s budget planning and execution by accusing the administration of subsidizing a civil organization that takes part in social movements. This is a breach of the separation of powers principle. The purpose of budget review is to ensure public funds are used appropriately, but not to be used as a means of political persecution.
What the KMT legislators are doing is undermining the development of civil society and freedom of speech. Civil groups’ participation in public affairs and their expression of opinion are the cornerstones of a democratic society.
The KMT is using the budget freeze as a means to suppress organizations that participate in public affairs. This does not only affect the operation of community organizations, but also threatens freedom of speech and assembly, creating a chilling effect in civil society.
Furthermore, the budget freeze they proposed is disproportionate. They proposed freezing NT$70 million of the budget just because the ministry gave a NT$77,000 subsidy to a civic group. This is against the principle of proportionality. This is simply a demonstration of a regression of democratic values and an authoritarian mentality.
Taiwan has gone through years of democratization progress. The flourishing development of civil society and the pluralistic expression of views indicate social progress.
The KMT’s manipulation of the budget review represents an erosion of the core values of democracy and a reflection that our country is still haunted by its authoritarian past.
This would not only impede civil groups’ operations, but would also discourage young people from taking part in public affairs, causing a long-term adverse impact on the development of democracy in Taiwan.
The legislature should exercise its right to review the government’s budget only to oversee the administration and to ensure proper use of public resources, but not to suppress dissent or silence civil society.
The KMT’s proposal to freeze the Youth Development Administration’s budget deviates from the spirit of democracy and should be strongly condemned.
I hope legislators from other political parties could safeguard democratic values, refuse to use budget review as a tool of political suppression, and protect pluralism and freedom in Taiwan’s civil society.
Edwin Yang is an associate professor at the College of International Studies and Social Sciences of National Taiwan Normal University.
Translated by Fion Khan
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