The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Wednesday announced plans to downside the organization by cutting the number of staff on its national payroll by more than 58 percent from 743 to 310.
The KMT’s Central Standing Committee decided that the number of employees at party headquarters would be cut from 134 to 80, while those at local chapters would be reduced from 609 to 230. The plan is to take effect two months from Wednesday.
The figures do not include staffers and campaigners employed personally by KMT politicians.
According to the new policy, local chapters can add workers who will be paid through funds raised locally, but the total number nationwide is to be capped at 262.
The party estimated that it would need between NT$1.5 billion and NT$1.8 billion (US$47.2 million and US$56.6 million) for severance and pension payments.
The party will compensate laid-off workers to its best ability and has filed a request with the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee to liquidate assets to raise the needed funds, KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said.
Committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) issued a statement saying: “We are pleased that the KMT has shown a willingness to deal with this issue, and based on the party assets law, the KMT can submit an application together with a fiscal operations plan, which the party assets committee will review and deliberate to decide whether the KMT can transfer or process said assets.”
The party’s wage structure will also be adjusted, Chan said, with the largest cuts affecting top-level positions and little change being made to basic-level workers.
To promote a fiscally healthier organization, the KMT will seek to increase its revenues and cut its expenditures, Chan said, adding that the restructuring would address overhead expenses, while party members who are elected officials are expected to fulfil their obligation in raising funds for the party.
The Central Standing Committee has approved the fundraising quotas for all elected party officials from township mayors to county commissioners and city mayors, Chan said, adding that district legislators are to raise NT$500,000 each and legislators-at-large NT$300,000 each.
Party officials have also been assigned quotas, with the party chairperson required to raise NT$10 million, the vice chairpersons NT$10 million collectively and Central Standing Committee members NT$1 million each, he said.
Local chapter conveners are to be transformed into an unpaid elected post, Chan said, adding that a research group is to be established to draft an electoral process.
KMT Chairwoman Hung Shiu-chu (洪秀柱) called the restructuring “a necessary, but painful decision.”
Replacing paid-party positions with volunteers is a priority of her office, she said, urging all party members who hold public office to meet their fundraising quotas.
“They must understand that times are tough and this is a matter of survival. We must each do our part to ensure the party’s survival and prosperity,” she said.
Tainan City Councilor Lu Kun-fu (盧崑福) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday sparked further controversy when he echoed remarks by KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) that Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) should be executed for an increase in domestic COVID-19 cases. Chen heads the Central Epidemic Command Center. Lu at a question-and-answer session at the Tainan City Council said that a lapse in disease prevention measures at China Airlines, which has led to a cluster infection, could have been controlled. However, as the airline’s pilots were allowed a shortened quarantine period of three days and were placed
SUFFICIENT SUPPLY: Taiwan has an abundance of pandemic-related goods in storage, and protocols have been implemented to ensure that the supply chain is not broken Hordes of customers descended on hypermarkets and supermarkets in Taipei and New Taipei City after the government yesterday raised the COVID-19 alert level for the two municipalities to level 3 until May 28. Earlier in the day, the Central Epidemic Command Center reported 180 new domestically transmitted cases, most of them in Taipei and New Taipei City. Despite the government urging the public to stop hoarding daily necessities, shelves were stripped bare while cashiers were working as fast as they could. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at a news conference on Friday detailed the government’s inventory of masks, medical-grade isopropyl alcohol and protective clothing,
‘STAY CALM’: The nation has more than 800 million masks in stock and can produce up to 40 million a day, while hand sanitizer stocks are also sufficient The nation has an ample supply of masks to meet demand amid concerns over an increase in the number of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday. Taiwan has more than 800 million masks in stock, with daily production of 18.3 million units on average and maximum daily capacity of 40 million units, the ministry said on Facebook. The ministry’s assurance came after Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), on Monday said that the nation has entered the community transmission stage after several new domestic
EYES AND EARS: The navy has commissioned the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to manufacture radars to upgrade the nation’s naval monitoring stations A military enthusiast yesterday posted photographs of Taiwanese F-16 jets taking off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu with two refueling aircraft, presumably returning to Taiwan from the US for upgrades. Asked about the matter, the Ministry of National Defense declined to comment. The jets had been part of training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and had briefly landed in Honolulu, where the photographer, Aeros808, had spotted them, a source said. The jets did not land in Guam, which had been done in 1996 when the US Air Force delivered F-16s to Taiwan, the source said, adding that the
RSS