As the legislature is to vote on the Cabinet's request to void the recent revision to funding rules today, all parties made last-ditch efforts yesterday to drum up support for their positions.
Backers of the veto motion slightly outnumbered the naysayers, with a handful caught between toeing the party line and guarding the interest of their constituencies.
After four hours of closed-door discussion yesterday afternoon, the PFP decided to vote against the Cabinet's proposal in order to uphold what it called the legislature's dignity.
"The caucus has agreed to take a uniform stance on the matter [today]," PFP legislative leader Diane Lee (
With 45 seats in the legislature, the second-largest opposition party will have a critical, if not decisive, role in the vote's outcome.
PFP lawmaker Tsao Yuan-chang (曹原彰) said he has not yet made up his mind about which way to vote. "I will need more time before arriving at a conclusion," he said on the phone last night. "I don't want to defy the party's order or compromise the interests of my constituents."
Tsao, who represents Matsu, said his constituency risks losing millions in aid funds if he votes along party lines, as the Cabinet controls more than 90 percent of Matsu's funds.
Tsao is not alone, however. A dozen colleagues from across the political spectrum all feel the same pressure.
What is vexing them is a funding overhaul adopted by the legislature during a marathon session on Jan. 17 that would allow local governments to keep a bigger share of tax revenues.
Local administrators, led by Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Premier Yu Shyi-kun has said he cannot fulfill the funding mandate without squeezing spending for other programs previously approved by the legislature. Yu and key aides have lobbied hard for the veto motion over the past two weeks.
The DPP was upbeat last night that the veto proposal would prevail. "The opposition camp may not muster enough votes to override the veto motion," DPP Legislative Whip Tsai Huang-liang (
To ensure a victory, the DPP caucus has issued a top mobilization order asking all its 89 members to attend the today's vote.
DPP Legislator Lin Ching-hsin (
Lin, whose constituency of Kaohsiung City will gain NT$12 billion in revenue income under the revision, expressed fear of alienating his supporters if he votes it down.
He said his predicament is aggravated by the party's refusal to punish defiant members. "The policy denies me an excuse not to put constituent interests ahead of partisan concerns," Lin said.
To play it safe, Lin said he would check six colleagues representing Kaohsiung City about which way to vote.
Meanwhile, the KMT decided last night to mete out disciplinary measures against members who fail to uphold the funding amendment in any manner.
"After much consideration, the party found `proper' punishment necessary to ensure maximum unity," KMT Legislative Whip Lin Yi-shih (
A few KMT lawmakers have said they would abstain from the vote in a passive show of protest against the funding overhaul.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
RSS