Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Michelle Lin (林楚茵) today criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for stalling the central government’s general budget for 229 days without review.
Lin accused the KMT of orchestrating the delay to accommodate the meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday last week.
The obstruction has severely affected people’s livelihoods and disaster prevention efforts, she said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Subsidies for new parents were increased to NT$100,000 (US$3,151) this year, but as the funding falls under new budget items, recipients can only receive NT$40,000 due to the stalled budget, undermining the public’s rights and benefits, she said.
A flood control budget of NT$14.7 billion has also been held up, affecting disaster preparedness and public safety, she said.
She accused the KMT of delaying budget deliberations and blocking arms procurement bills for the sake of the Cheng-Xi meeting.
Now that Cheng has returned to Taiwan, KMT lawmakers should promptly review the general budget and arms procurement bills instead of echoing Beijing’s “incentive measures,” which are “sugar-coated poison” and part of its “united front” work, she said.
She called on Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to follow through on his earlier call to swiftly review the budget and return the legislature to normal operations.
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