The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), using their combined legislative majority, today again declined to schedule the government’s proposed special defense budget for discussion.
It is the fourth time that the budget has been blocked.
President William Lai (賴清德) last month announced the NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.67 million) supplementary budget to underscore the nation’s determination to defend itself.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan on Nov. 27 passed the draft act for the budget, which would be spent over eight years from next year through 2033.
During today’s meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Procedure Committee, nine members voted in favor of putting the bill on the agenda, while nine members and KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), who chairs the committee, voted against doing so.
The KMT claims it wants to strengthen Taiwan’s national defense, but in practice it is unwilling to even allow the budget onto the agenda, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) said, adding that the budget being blocked was “laughable.”
KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that Lai was the one stalling the process, as he proposed the special budget but has not appeared before the legislature to present it or answer questions.
The KMT and the TPP deliberately disregard basic legislative procedure, DPP spokeswoman Han Ying (韓瑩) said in a statement.
The KMT is “taking orders from the Chinese government,” as Weng yesterday admitted that she had contacted officials from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office during a recent trip to China and openly declared that she would block the special defense budget, Han said.
The KMT has refused to acknowledge public support for improving national defense and turned its back on Taiwanese, she said.
According to legislative procedure, bills and budget proposals must first pass the Procedure Committee and then be referred to a committee before they can be explained and substantively debated, she said.
“Now they are not even allowing the bill to enter discussion at all,” she said. “This is opposition for the sake of opposition, with no sincerity whatsoever.”
The public does not support spending additional funds on weapons purchases, Weng said, adding that the budget would be an unbearable burden on the nation’s finances.
Apart from the special defense budget, several other amendments were also shelved from the agenda for plenary sessions scheduled from Friday through Tuesday next week.
They include DPP lawmakers’ proposals to amend the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例) to regulate legislators’ trips to China, as well as the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法).
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
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