The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said that it would resolutely oppose a second extraordinary session at the Legislative Yuan to review a second special budget proposal for COVID-19 prevention and economic stimulus.
The caucus in a statement said that it was “not urgent” and would only serve the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) administration’s reckless attitude toward taxpayers’ money.
The Executive Yuan had tendered a perfunctory 42-page request for a special budget of NT$210 billion (US$7.1 billion), which averages “NT$5 billion per page,” it said.
The DPP caucus has said that it would call for a second extraordinary session to be held this month to review the budget proposal.
The KMT caucus also panned the National Development Council for delivering a report on the negative economic effects of the pandemic, which had only 13 pages and included content on economic policies that are not related to the pandemic to fill the pages.
The report lacks any viable solutions to the plight facing the business sector and merits a score of zero, it said, adding that the Executive Yuan’s endorsement of such a report highlighted its incompetence and inaction over the economy.
Furthermore, of the NT$210 billion requested, NT$123.6 billion was earmarked to reimburse government agencies whose budget had been appropriated to pay for subsidies necessary for disease prevention and economic relief under Article 11 of the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), which allows a central government agency to transfer part of its budget to another agency for urgent needs, it said.
Since most of the proposed second special budget would be used to reimburse agencies, the budget is not urgent and can wait until the regular session starts at the end of next month, the KMT caucus said.
Extraordinary sessions should only be held to address urgent issues, but since the DPP returned to power four years ago, it has held at least one extraordinary session per legislative session, which so far has added up to 10 extraordinary sessions, it said, adding that the frequency with which the DPP holds extraordinary sessions is the highest in the nation’s history.
The DPP caucus has made extraordinary sessions a legislative tool of the Executive Yuan, it said.
The KMT resolutely opposes the DPP’s abuse of its legislative majority to subvert democracy and undermine legislative procedure, it said.
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