The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) proposal to hold three nationally televised debate sessions covering the central government’s general budget was sent to a second reading today.
The move came after Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday called for a debate in the Legislative Yuan over this year’s general budget, which has not yet been passed.
At today’s Legislative Yuan plenary session, the KMT proposed pitting the three KMT caucus leaders against the top three Executive Yuan officials in televised debates similar to those held during election campaigns.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The debates would cover major new capital expenditures and newly proposed programs, it said.
Following cross-party negotiations, the proposal was sent directly to a second reading and referred for inter-caucus negotiations, to be convened by the KMT.
The Legislative Yuan has yet to send this year’s general budget to committee for review.
The Cabinet said that the legislature is the largest platform for policy debate and it does not understand why opposition parties would not debate the budget in the Legislative Yuan as has been done in the past.
The KMT caucus urged Cho not to follow President William Lai’s (賴清德) example, after he declined to attend his own impeachment hearings.
Cho should take the chance to allow the public to clearly understand the points of contention in the budget and give people the right to scrutinize them, it said.
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