The Legislative Yuan today rejected the Executive Yuan’s request to reconsider amendments to the fiscal planning act passed earlier this month.
The legislature voted on the request, with the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) using their majority to reject the reconsideration and uphold the original legislation by 59 to 50 votes.
If more than half all legislators, 57 or more, vote to reject a reconsideration and uphold the original legislation, then the Executive Yuan must accept that decision, according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文).
Photo: CNA
The legislature on Nov. 14 passed amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), which the Cabinet said are difficult, if not impossible, to implement.
The amendments would impair the central government’s ability to adjust subsidies to local governments, exceed the annual borrowing ceiling and hinder the smooth implementation of several central government policies, the Executive Yuan said, asking the legislature to reconsider the amendments on Thursday last week.
Party caucuses agreed to review the request today after reaching a consensus in a cross-party negotiation yesterday, but did not invite Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to explain the Executive Yuan’s reasoning, instead designating one representative from each caucus to speak.
During the review this morning, Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said that the opposition had pushed through three flawed amendments to the fiscal planning act.
Cho in March warned the legislature that last year’s amendments were problematic, but the opposition’s amendments in November repeated the same mistakes, so it is no wonder the opposition did not invite Cho to explain the reconsideration request this time, Chung said.
Cho, who requests a reconsideration every time the legislature passes a bill he does not like, has filed the most reconsiderations of any premier, yet each time his request fails, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
Treating reconsiderations as a mere game shows the arrogance of the Executive Yuan and its disregard for legislative power, Lai said.
Today, the opposition must defend the normal functioning of the nation’s constitutional system by rejecting the Executive Yuan’s baseless reconsideration, he said.
It is time to set things right and defend local government subsidies, which the Executive Yuan has unlawfully slashed by more than NT$200 billion (US$6.4 billion), TPP Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張啓楷) said, adding that opposition parties aim to recover that funding.
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