Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials and opposition lawmakers yesterday traded barbs over slashes to agricultural subsidies after Typhoon Danas wreaked economic damage on farms.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Wang Yu-min (王育敏) and Ting Hseuh-chung (丁學忠) at a news conference earlier in the day urged the government to provide compensation to storm-struck farmers in Yunlin and Chiayi counties, and Tainan.
In response, DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said opposition lawmakers should take responsibility for slashing the Ministry of Agriculture’s NT$90 million (US$3.09 million) budget earmarked for the agricultural special income fund.
Photo: CNA
KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) during budget negotiations last year had initially proposed cutting the ministry’s budget to NT$1 until public backlash forced the opposition to walk back its plans, she said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and TPP Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張?楷) replaced Chang Chia-chun’s proposal by slashing the fund, to the unanimous support of the KMT-TPP coalition, she said.
The opposition’s tactic is to cut essential budgets so it could play the role of the savior in crises of its own making, Wu said.
The agricultural special income fund was used for dealing with agricultural overproduction, not disaster relief, Chang Chi-kai said.
Wu’s comments were part of a DPP disinformation campaign to discredit the opposition parties, Chang Chi-kai said.
The Ministry of Agriculture issued a statement saying that officials have been truthful in all public statements they have made with reference to the budget cuts.
The agricultural special income fund the opposition parties canceled is explicitly utilized for disaster relief, among other types of subsidies.
Citing article 22 of the Budget Act (預算法), the ministry said officials are prohibited from using its reserve fund for budget items lawmakers have deleted or slashed.
The Legislative Yuan must make haste to vote to authorize the ministry to access its reserve funds for disaster relief, the ministry said.
Typhoon Danas caused an estimated NT$1.6 billion in economic damage to farmers, it said.
Separately, the DPP issued orders for party staffers and volunteers to mobilize from Monday for rolling rallies in support of the recall votes targeting KMT lawmakers scheduled for July 26 and Aug. 23.
Party workers are to campaign on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings on the street and in markets in the electoral districts affected by the recall votes, it said.
The KMT and the TPP have achieved significant progress in rallying the pan-blue base and DPP voters must come out to cast their ballots if the recalls are to succeed, Wu said.
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