The pan-blue and pan-green legislative caucuses yesterday threw their backing behind a proposal to review a code regulating pension payments to former presidents and vice presidents.
"It is appropriate to re-examine the payments and special treatment given to former presidents and vice presidents," said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德). "The direction corresponds to the course of the party's reform campaign."
Lai said that he expects to see his caucus reach a consensus over the issue during today's caucus meeting.
Lai made the remarks in response to a proposal made by DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) on Wednesday to revise the Statute Governing Preferential Treatment to Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) to abolish or lower the stipends paid to former leaders.
According to Lin, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) is the richest retired civil servant in the country. The KMT's former chairman makes about NT$240,000 (US$7,145) a month on top of NT$220,000 in bank interest from the preferential interest rate given to civil servants.
Both Lin and Lai, however, dismissed the speculation that the proposal is targeted at a particular person or party because if it gets the nod from the legislature, it would affect both retired and incumbent presidents and vice presidents no matter what their party.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) caucus, the DPP's ally, fully supported Lin's proposal, saying that such a revision would correspond with the general public's expectations and social justice.
"We recognize the reform course the DPP is taking," said TSU caucus whip Mark Ho (何敏豪). "We will give the DPP's proposal our endorsement if it launches a signature campaign and do not rule out the possibility of filing a petition ourselves if no other caucus takes the initiative."
While some have voiced concern over the funds former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) would get if the proposal becomes law, Ho dismissed such concerns as "short-sighted."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) said that everything is negotiable if the revised system is legalized.
"At the moment, the Statute Governing Preferential Treatment to Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents does deserve an overhaul and the party is studying the issue and will soon present our version," Pan said.
The People First Party (PFP) caucus yesterday also gave their backing, saying that it will propose its own draft in the near future.
"We made a similar proposal on numerous occasions during the last legislative term but unfortunately failed to receive the support of the other caucuses," said PFP caucus whip Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交). "We are happy to see the other caucuses finally realize the problem."
PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) proposed making President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) paid adviser and policy counselor posts into unpaid positions.
If the idea is approved by the legislature, Lin estimated it would save the state coffers about NT$131 million a year. Lin said that she hopes to see the revamped legislation take effect next May.
The president currently has a total of 12 political advisers who are paid, 12 more who are unpaid, 27 paid policy counselors and 48 unpaid. The tenure for each position is one year.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS