The salaries of six National Security Council (NSC) consulting committee members are allegedly in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法), and their appointments are also believed to have infringed upon the authority of the Control Yuan, the legislature’s Budget Center said.
The council, serving in the capacity of direct staff under the president, can hire a total of 10 administrative personnel, including a secretary-general, who receives the same salary as a minister, three deputy secretary-generals, who receive the same salary as deputy ministers, and six consulting committee members, who are paid the same salary as a minister.
However, according to a report by the Budget Center, the National Security Council Organization Act (國安會組織法) says that the president may hire five to seven consultant members, but does not specify whether the position is paid or not.
The council’s internal regulations specify that the salary of consulting committee members should reflect that of a minister’s.
Although this regulation has been approved by presidents since August 1995, there was no legal authorization and it therefore is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the report said, adding that the definition of official rules through non-legal channels was not only in violation of the Central Legal Standards Act (中央法規標準法) and the Basic Act Governing Central Administrative Agencies Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法), but also infringed on the authority of the Control Yuan.
As the council’s deputy -secretary-general is the equivalent of a 14th grade government official, with the salary of a deputy minister being even lower than that of a consulting committee member, it effectively muddles the normal governmental official system and is in breach of administrative ethics, the report says.
The report advised that the council’s consulting committee members’ positions be made honorary unpaid posts, which would make the situation more acceptable to the public.
The report also said that the National Security Council Organization Act only gave clear definitions on the hiring of research fellows, associate research fellows and researcher assistants, but the council made its own addendum for the hiring of assistants, which is a violation of the act.
In addition, the report said the council still did not have its own Web site and only publicized its proposed and approved budget on the Presidential Office’s site.
Even the National Security Bureau, with its many secrets, has its own Web site, but the council refuses to set up its own, saying it does not directly interact with the public or with policy promotion procedures, it said.
The Budget Center said this could be a violation of the Access to Government Information Act (政府資訊公開法).
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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