Following an increase in publicity budgets, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus would review the Executive Yuan’s budget report meticulously, party caucus secretary-general Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan’s budget for “media publicity for government policies and measures” for next year increased sharply by NT$590 million (US$18.5 million), or 65.4 percent, from NT$900 million to NT$1.49 billion, he said.
The publicity budget for the Ministry of the Interior increased the most by NT$240 million, while those for the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications rose to NT$60 million and NT$50 million respectively, he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The government might be squandering taxpayers’ money, he said, adding that the KMT caucus would cut unnecessary expenditures in the new legislative session.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administrations under former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and President William Lai (賴清德) used the publicity budget to fill the pockets of certain media and excluded other bidders from procurements, Lin said.
The DPP engages in political propaganda through the media, sugarcoating its “poor administration,” while using “trolls” to attack opposition parties, he said, adding that Taiwan is becoming a “green party state,” referring to the DPP’s colors.
Lin also said the opposition parties would strengthen their cooperation in the legislature in the wake of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) alleged involvement in a scandal.
The KMT and TPP shared similar views on many bills during the previous legislative session, including budgets, laws and the evaluation of the executive branch’s personnel appointments, he said.
Ko’s case would not negatively affect the two parties’ cooperation in the new legislative session, he said.
Separately yesterday, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the Executive Yuan’s budgets are planned according to legal procedures and timelines.
Chou said he would not allow bidders’ exclusion in procurement processes and would give special attention if there is such a problem.
Additional reporting by Wu Hsin-tien
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