Executive Yuan officials on Saturday urged the Legislative Yuan to prioritize the government’s budget proposals for a special relief package, the third-phase of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program and the 2021 fiscal year in its upcoming session.
The Legislative Yuan holds two regular sessions per year — the first from February to May and the second from September to December.
Executive Yuan officials this month met with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, government sources said, citing legislators as saying that the special relief package funding would probably pass a third reading in October.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
The special relief package amounts to NT$210 billion (US$7.12 billion) in subsidies for companies hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as funding for COVID-19 vaccines, and was approved by the Executive Yuan on July 23.
The special funding not being approved during two extraordinary legislative sessions last month has affected the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in delivering promised subsidies, the sources said.
The Executive Yuan on Aug. 13 approved the government budget for next year, with NT$2.16 trillion in expenditure and NT$2.45 trillion in revenue, as well as approving NT$230 billion for the Forward-looking program for next year and 2022, they said.
Meanwhile, the abolishment of the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan would likely be discussed in the upcoming session, while first cross-caucus discussion on required constitutional amendments are soon to be held, they said.
DPP caucus secretary-general Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) on Saturday said that the passage of constitutional amendments depend on whether the parties would cooperate, adding that the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) attitude on this issue is crucial.
The Republic of China Constitution stipulates that a constitutional amendment requires three-fourths of legislative votes in a meeting with no less than three-fourths of legislators present — amounting to 85 required votes out of 113 legislators.
While the DPP holds 69 legislative seats, the KMT holds 35 — more than a quarter of all seats — and is capable of blocking a constitutional amendment proposal.
Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsin
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