The central government's budget bill for fiscal 2001 finally made its way onto the legislative agenda yesterday after the majority KMT decided to "conditionally" drop its effort to obstruct the bill's passage.
Legislators voted 129 to eight, with seven abstentions, to ratify a plan to invite Premier Tang Fei
The legislature's procedure committee has set this Friday as the date for presentation of the budget.
The interpellation session will follow immediately after the presentation and is expected to last two weeks, after which the budget bill will be referred to committees for review.
Presentation of the budget bill had been delayed for two weeks, largely due to opposition from the KMT caucus.
The KMT had refused to allow the presentation of the budget to proceed, saying the government had not cut costs by NT$510 billion as some Cabinet members had claimed they would.
KMT legislators had demanded that some Cabinet officials appear before the legislature to explain their cost-cutting promises and remarks insinuating that the former KMT government had been wasteful and corrupt.
In addition to Lin Chuan, KMT legislators also wanted to hear from Chen Ding-nan (
Reporting to the KMT caucus on Monday, the four officials admitted that their remarks were not based on accurate calculations and that they had not meant to criticize the KMT.
The KMT caucus agreed to let the issue slide, though a few members, led by Chen Ching-pao (
Despite opposition from Chen Ching-pao and seven other legislators, a majority of legislators voted yesterday to give the green light to the presentation of the budget bill.
Lu Shiow-yen (
"We are glad to see the budget bill enter the legislative agenda. Through the opposition of a small minority, we hope to remind the government officials to mind their words in the future," Lu said.
Lu said another reason behind the move was to show the legislators' disapproval of the "careless" and "inaccurate" way in which the budget bills were drafted.
Wong Chung-chun
Wong said Premier Tang should promise to take steps to make the spending plan more transparent, included completing the allocation of NT$9.4 billion in tax revenues for local governments and providing detailed allocation criteria for a NT$97 billion subsidy fund for local governments.
The government, ruled by the DPP, which is a minority party in the Legislative Yuan, had two previous versions of its fiscal budget for next year rejected last week.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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