An act to recover wrongfully paid government pensions was yesterday passed into law after a 10-year push, with former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and prominent members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to be asked to return some benefits.
The legislature approved the Act on the Settlement of the Combination of Years of Service in Public Sector and Political Organizations (公職人員年資併社團專職人員年資計發退離給與處理條例), which when promulgated requires people paid a pension for the time they spent working for the KMT and non-governmental organizations to return the excess payments within one year.
The act is expected to affect 381 former ministers, government officials and teachers, including Lien, former KMT vice chairman Jason Hu (胡志強) and former Examination Yuan president John Kuan (關中).
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Kuan has been overpaid about NT$10.11 million (US$335,301) and is obliged to pay it back, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said.
Lien has been overpaid about NT$9.83 million; Hu has received NT$8.65 million; former Straits Exchange Foundation vice chairman Chiao Jen-ho (焦仁和) has received NT$3.73 million; former KMT vice chairman Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) has received NT$1.09 million; former Judicial Yuan president Shih Chi-yang (施啟揚) has received NT$665,640; and former KMT chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) has received NT$171,360, the DPP said.
Their retirement benefits are to be adjusted by deducting the number of years they worked for the KMT or other political organizations from the number of years they worked in the public sector.
The Ministry of Civil Service is to announce the exact amount each person owes the state.
However, the act stipulates a pension floor of NT$25,000 per month to ensure basic living expenses for retirees. Those whose monthly pension is below the floor after adjustments will receive NT$25,000 per month.
The 381 retirees combined their political party and public sector service to qualify for government pensions because, in 1971, the Examination Yuan approved a regulation to allow KMT officials who held public office to combine years served as a civil servant with years worked as a party official.
A similar regulation was enacted for officials of the World League for Freedom and Democracy, the Asian Peoples’ Anti-Communist League, the National Development and Research Institute, the China Youth Corps, the Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services and the Grand Alliance for China’s Reunification under the Three Principles of the People.
The regulations were abolished in 1987 and 2006 after government investigations determined that they violated the principle of equality.
However, KMT and party officials who had assumed government positions before the regulations were scrapped were still allowed to combine their years of service.
An investigation into the regulation was launched in 2005 during the administration of then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), and the DPP put forward a draft bill in 2007 to eliminate the practice, but the bill failed to pass the KMT-dominated legislature.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old