About two-thirds of respondents support the expedited passage of a draft special act to bolster Taiwan’s defense, a poll released by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday showed.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last week proposed a special defense budget of NT$380 billion (US$11.94 billion) — an increase from an originally proposed figure of NT$350 billion.
The KMT’s proposal is significantly less than the Executive Yuan’s proposal in November last year of a special defense budget of NT$1.25 trillion.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The poll asked: “Do you support the expedited passage of the national defense special budget act through the Legislative Yuan?” DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said yesterday.
The poll showed that 66.6 percent of respondents backed the Cabinet’s proposal, while 21.2 opposed it and 12.2 percent had no opinion, Wu said.
Asked whether the KMT version signified support or opposition to the special defense budget, 51.6 percent said it indicated opposition, 23.6 percent said it indicated support and 24.8 percent said they had no opinion, the poll showed.
Compared with the Executive Yuan’s version, the KMT proposal would include only some military procurement and was “evidently imbalanced,” Wu said.
Asked whether Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) is eligible to serve as a lawmaker due to her alleged dual citizenship, 60 percent of respondents said that she was not eligible, with 48 percent of those identifying as politically neutral.
Among respondents identifying as KMT and TPP supporters, 34.8 percent and 34 percent respectively said Li — who was born in China — was not eligible, the poll showed.
The poll was conducted by the DPP Polling Center on Saturday and Sunday among people aged 20 or older.
It garnered 1,084 valid responses and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Li yesterday said it was ironic that the government, which she said has failed to respect decisions passed by the legislative majority, now claims to respect poll numbers.
If the DPP truly respected public opinion, it would not refuse to countersign legislative acts that have passed third readings in the legislature, she said.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is expected to convene cross-party talks today to discuss Li’s eligibility.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin and CNA
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