The legislature yesterday passed the government’s general budget proposal for fiscal year 2017, after cutting it to NT$1.97 trillion (US$62.3 billion).
During the two-week extraordinary session, opposition lawmakers put forward about 500 proposals for budget cuts, but the number was reduced to 63 during cross-caucus negotiations that were chaired by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全).
Lawmakers settled on a budget of NT$1.97 trillion, cutting 1.2 percent from the government’s proposed NT$1.99 trillion.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
The proposed budget has a deficit of NT$132.9 billion and an estimated NT$74 billion for principal payments on government debt, all of which the government said would be covered through loans.
At the end of the session, Su commended the party caucuses and legislative staff for their efforts to process major bills, such as amendments to the Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法) and the Electricity Act (電業法), as well as the budget bill.
This was achieved though rational communication, efficiency and order among the caucuses, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
Su’s performance over the session was praised by New Power Party (NPP) caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明).
“Swords were drawn over this legislative session and there were even some topics that were not appropriate to handle during a special session, but we support Su’s handling of matters,” Hsu said. “Dealing with the budget, the whole process was relatively smooth.”
He expressed regret that his party’s calls for more rigorous pension bonus standards had not won approval, adding that the NPP would support the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) plans for military and economic development.
Before the session ended, the legislature, with the DPP’s majority, rejected three budget cut proposals put forward by the KMT caucus, including a proposal to slash the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) budget, which the KMT said was “not thoughtfully planned” and would not improve stagnant relations between Taiwan and China amid a cooling of cross-strait interactions.
The KMT said that MAC Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) should be held responsible for the cooling of cross-strait ties since May 20 last year, when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office.
The MAC “has obviously misjudged the situation,” the KMT caucus said, adding that the council should outline response strategies within a month and deliver a report about its misjudgement to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee within two months.
However, the budget cut proposals and the request for the MAC to submit a report were voted down by DPP legislators.
The DPP controls 68 of the 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan, while the KMT has 35. The NPP has five and the People First Party has three, while the Non-Partisan Solidarity Alliance and an independent have one seat each.
KMT proposals to slash the budget for the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee and disband the committee were also rejected.
The committee was established by the Cabinet in August last year based on the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例). The statute was enacted by the legislature in July last year.
According to the regulations, some of the KMT’s property has been frozen pending investigations into party assets.
The KMT caucus also proposed cutting the Ministry of Education’s budget, which weighed in during a controversy over a phrase used by Lai He (賴和), the father of Taiwan’s nativist literary movement, that has been cited by the Presidential Office in the spring couplets it plans to give away.
The KMT said the ministry’s response amounted to education serving political goals.
The next legislative session is to open after the Lunar New Year holiday ends on Feb. 1.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
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