Pan-blue lawmakers yesterday reneged on a deal reforming a retirement benefit system for government employees that has been a financial burden to the government for decades.
The about-turn prompted speculation that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is being challenged by his party's pro-localization faction, had given a warning to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is largely perceived as favored by the faction.
"We strongly suspect that the move [by the KMT] was instigated by Ma, who wanted to show Wang that he is party leader," Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told a press conference.
The deal was achieved at a cross-party negotiation meeting chaired by the legislative speaker on Tuesday, during which lawmakers agreed that they would pass related amendments on yesterday's session to pay less pensions for retired government employees.
The legislature on Tuesday passed a resolution reinstating the 18 percent special interest rate on savings for retired civil servants, military personnel, and teachers -- overriding a Cabinet executive order from Feb.16 that had reduced the retirement benefits system for government employees.
In accordance with the resolution, the government has to compensate the beneficiaries of the system for the loss of interest they have incurred over the past 10 months.
The DPP compromised with the pan-blues on the resolution as they said that the pan-blues agreed that the deal made at the negotiation meeting would take effect on Feb. 16 next year.
After the deal was done, KMT caucus whip Tsei Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said that the government would pay NT$38 million (US$1.16 million) less by 2048 under the new pensions system.
However, with the Cabinet's executive order overridden on Tuesday and since amendments to a new pension system failed to pass the legislature yesterday, the pension system will revert, which will end up costing the government NT$ 2.2 trillion by 2048.
"Ma has to take responsibility for failing to pass the amendments today as he sacrificed the nation's interests for the internal fighting of the party," Ker said.
Tsai denied Ker's accusation, saying that the party would still support the deal only if the Examination Yuan, the administrative agency of the pension system, were to approve the deal and then send it to the legislature for review.
DPP Legislator Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢) said that citing procedural reasons to delay reviewing the amendments was just an excuse.
"Legislation is the lawmakers' right and obligation, too. I see no reason why we have to wait for a proposal brought up by Examination Yuan," he said.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
RSS