When the Cabinet requested a reconsideration of the central government general budget approved by the legislature, the legislature inexplicably demanded that the executive branch cut the budget itself by NT$6.36 billion (US$192.7 million). Opposition lawmakers’ actions have led to criticism of their “contravening principles of responsible governance.”
Not only are they reneging on their obligation to review the budget, they are harming the normal and stable operation of government agencies, and undermining the democratic government’s balance of powers.
The legislature is abandoning its obligation to conduct reviews and infringing on responsible governance.
Budgetary reviews are a core job component for legislators to ensure that government spending aligns with national development needs and upholds fiscal discipline.
In principle, the legislature should carefully review each ministry’s budget and decide whether to cut or adjust it. However, instead of conducting substantial deliberations, it told the Executive Yuan to cut NT$6.36 billion from the budget itself, essentially handing its responsibility to review spending to the executive branch and its ministries and agencies.
Such an abrogation of duty goes against the fundamental principles of responsible governance: The legislature must exercise supervisory powers pertaining to the budget and should not shift this and other duties onto other branches of the government, or demand that the executive branch review budgetary items and decide what stays and what goes.
Specifically, the legislature did not clearly enumerate the items it intends to cut or adjust; it instead demanded that the executive branch cut its proposed expenditure to meet the figure set by the legislature, leaving the executive branch in a tough position.
If ministries and agencies lack concrete direction in implementing the budget, this could lead to plans being halted due to insufficient funding, or to partial reductions in services and personnel due to budget shortfalls. This indeterminacy impacts the effectiveness of governance and harms the quality of public services.
This is not the first time the legislature has tried to pass its responsibilities to the executive branch, but is a long-standing abuse of budgetary review duties. Some opposition lawmakers are using “budget freezes” and demands that the Executive Yuan cut the budget itself to deepen political conflict and block implementation of government policy instead of carrying out precise budget adjustments through reasoned and rational deliberation. Their actions have the veneer of supervision, but the reality is that they are causing ministries to take on an unreasonable burden, further impacting the stability of government operations.
The legislature’s use of simplistic reductions of the budget without looking at actual items is a political propaganda tool. It has abandoned the professional spirit of budgetary reviews.
The legislature’s demand that the executive branch itself reduce the budget not only contravenes principles of responsible governance, but threatens the stable operations of government agencies.
The legislature should replace political manipulations with substantive reviews to make budget reviews a foundation that buttress government operations, not a tool for destabilization.
Edwin Yang is an associate professor at National Taiwan Normal University and chairman of the Central Taiwan Association of University Professors.
Translated by Tim Smith
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