Legislators from across party lines yesterday agreed to seek a reconsideration motion for the central government’s general budget, which is at the top of the agenda for the current plenary session.
Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said he would convene cross-party negotiations next week.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus reportedly decided to send the general budget to a committee for review yesterday, but it failed to reach a consensus concerning several major bills, people familiar with the matter said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Asked if the KMT postponed the budget review because of the meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), a KMT legislator said the caucus had reached a consensus that the Executive Yuan should countersign and execute bills passed by the Legislative Yuan.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has refused to countersign amendments passed by the opposition-controlled legislature that the government has determined to be unconstitutional.
The central government’s NT$3.035 trillion (US$95.66 billion) general budget for this fiscal year has been stuck in the opposition-controlled legislature since January, with only a small fraction approved for funding, such as those for public transportation, road infrastructure and maternity subsidies.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that the KMT has once again gone back on its word and destroyed its own credibility, even after the general budget was sent to the committee.
Moreover, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) has proposed extending the legislative session by two months to July 31, Wu wrote on Facebook, adding that the session has only just begun and lawmakers have only worked for a few days, but the TPP is already seeking an extension.
Wu questioned the need to extend the session if neither the general budget nor arms procurement bills are being reviewed.
Regarding the stalled special defense budget, DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) said the party caucus had asked the speaker to preside over negotiations, as KMT lawmakers have continued to stall the process by boycotting committee talks and scheduling field trips.
The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Thursday convened for cross-caucus negotiations, but the absence of KMT legislators meant no consensus was reached.
Chen, a committee coconvener, said he had planned to hold another round of talks next week, but his coconvener, Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) of the KMT, has scheduled a field trip to eastern Taiwan instead, “deliberately obstructing and delaying the legislative process.”
The DPP caucus has decided to hand the matter over to Han to accelerate negotiations and prevent further delays, Chen said.
It is highly regrettable that KMT lawmakers failed to attend the meeting, Chen said, adding that they should do their homework before the Han-led negotiations instead of blindly pushing for their version of the bill without discussion.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han, Chen Cheng-yu and Fion Khan
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