Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said yesterday the caucus would propose a freeze on budget requests earmarked for entitlements for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during the Legislative Yuan’s review of the central government’s fiscal budget for next year.
“As a former president, [Chen] has so much money wired abroad and he has still failed to completely account for the details of the funds,” Lin said.
“Under these circumstances, the public might consider it unfair for the government to spend so much money on him and to assign so many people to protect him,” he said.
“Although it is important to follow the nation’s system [to grant special treatment for former presidents], elected representatives should also do something to live up to the public’s expectations,” he said.
STATUTE
The Statute Governing Preferential Treatment to Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) stipulates that a retired president enjoys a monthly stipend of NT$250,000 (US$7,800).
He or she also enjoys a maximum annual budget of NT$8 million to cover the salaries of staff and drivers.
The government also assigns eight to 12 bodyguards to former presidents as stipulated in the regulation.
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday declined to elaborate on the party caucus’ proposed plan, and said that the party would leave the issue for the caucus to handle.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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