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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS