The opposition parties slashed 34 percent of the Executive Yuan’s expendable operating expenditure, which would cause some government bodies to cease functioning, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials said yesterday, adding that they would apply for a ninjunction and constitutional interpretation to block the budget cuts from going into effect.
The government submitted a total budget request for NT$3.1325 trillion (US$95.6 billion) this year, of which NT$2.1055 trillion, or about two-thirds, was statutory expenditures. Those statutory funds have already been committed and cannot be touched, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said.
The NT$2.1055 trillion includes NT$1.5643 trillion to pay the wages of civil service, military and public school personnel, as well as payments for public project contracts. NT$250.1 billion are subsidies for local county and city governments to implement social welfare programs and basic infrastructure projects, while NT$291.1 billion is earmarked for transportation and road construction, Wu said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Outside of these statutory expenditure allocations, there is only NT$1.027 trillion left for government operating expenses.” The opposition parties combined to slash budget items worth more than NT$200 billion, while passing motions to freeze an additional NT$150 billion, for a total NT$350 billion,” Wu said, adding that this is 34 percent of the government’s “expendable operating expenditures,” which is a substantial amount and could cause some government bodies to shut down.
“This is not supervising, nor is it putting a check on spending. It is the opposition parties declaring war against the central government,” DPP lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
Lin and Wu disputed the “6.6 percent” budget cut claimed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), saying that the removal of NT$350 billion would prevent the day-to-day functioning of the government and would have a huge impact on regular citizens in all sectors of society.
The KMT and TPP did not directly cut the salaries of civil servants and government employees, Taipei City Councilor and Social Democratic Party member Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) said.
However, the KMT and TPP “indiscriminately” slashed budget items to pay for office water and electricity, while removing other operating expenses that would prevent civil servants from providing services and interacting with the public, Miao added.
Although the 6.6 percent figure might not sound high, “it’s like a person’s body in which the organs and bones are still intact. However, if you drain out 5 or 6 percent of the vital blood flow that is essential to keeping those organs operating, then the entire body cannot function and cannot move, so it effectively dies,” Miao said.
Separately, President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he regretted the legislative actions and the turmoil situation to slash budget items.
“It’s like Taiwan is a car that has no fuel to operate, or a kitchen with all of the food ingredients gathered and prepared, but with no electricity, no gas and no water to cook with,” Lai said, adding that the opposition parties should not undermine national security or violate the rights of the public.
The DPP would file for a court injunction to stop the budget amendments from going into effect as well as request a constitutional interpretation on whether the KMT contravened the state laws governing legislative procedures, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said, citing multiple process concerns, such as failing to allow time for deliberation and review.
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) and TPP Acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) rammed the amendment packages through without consultations, without the proper deliberation and review process at the committee level, and without an open hearing to receive public input, Ker said.
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