Thu, Sep 03, 2009 page3

• KMT caucus to prioritize budget requests in fall session

  • By Flora Wang and Jenny W. Hsu / STAFF REPORTERS
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  With the fall legislative session only 15 days away, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday it would give priority to three major budget requests this session.

  KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said the central government’s budget proposal for the 2010 fiscal year and the Executive Yuan’s special budget request for post-typhoon reconstruction would be on the caucus’ priority list this session, which begins on Sept. 18.

  The legislature raised the cap of the special budget to NT$120 billion (US$3.6 billion) last Thursday.

  Also on the caucus’ list is a government request for NT$160.67 billion in funds for public projects. The funds are part of a larger request for a special budget of NT$500 billion to invest in public projects over the next four years to revive the economy and lower unemployment, Lu said.

  He said the caucus would also seek to draft and push through a decree on the military’s role in disaster relief.

  KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has instructed the party’s Policy Committee and think tank to draw up a bill on making the military’s participation in relief efforts more effective as requested by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

  Meanwhile, on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus’ priorities for the session, DPP Policy Research Committee head Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said lawmakers must first decide whether to allow Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) to brief the legislature on the Cabinet’s administrative plan.

  “[The legislature should first deliberate] what it should do if Liu Chao-shiuan is still premier when the session begins because the DPP wants him replaced,” Ker told reporters. “Then we can discuss the budget requests.”

  However, the DPP will not boycott the budget request for post-typhoon reconstruction, he said.

  Meanwhile, in response to a Presidential Office request to increase the president’s special affairs fund by 30 percent, the DPP said fattening the president’s wallet would not help stimulate Taiwan’s economy.

  Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said on Tuesday a request was made to increase the fund from NT$30 million to NT$40 million.

  Wang said the extra NT$10 million would go toward helping marginalized groups.

  In 2007, the fund was cut from NT$50 million to NT$30 million following allegations that then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had misused it.

  “As the president, [Ma’s] job is to use every dollar of taxpayer money in the most effective way. If he truly intends to improve the lives of the disadvantaged, he should learn how to better utilize existing social resources, not increase his personal cash flow,” DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.

  The public would never support increasing the fund in a time of recession, he said.

  Cheng said the government’s total planned budget had shrunk by 3.9 percent because of the global downturn, yet money earmarked for a presidential musical concert had been raised from NT$1.88 million to NT$3 million.

  Cheng called on Ma to make good on his pledge to Transparency International to post a weekly report online detailing the usage of the fund.

  “Last year, some of the money from the presidential discretionary fund was spent on purchasing concert tickets, buying local delicacies from Yilan and celebrating the birthday of honorary KMT chairman Lien Chan [連戰],” Cheng said, urging the Presidential Office to disclose how Ma had spent the money since taking office.

  In response, Wang said transparency meant not simply withdrawing the funds by submitting claim forms like Chen did.

  All Presidential Office expenses are scrutinized in accordance with legal procedures, Wang said.

  When asked why the president wanted to help disadvantaged groups through his special affairs fund rather than through the government’s social programs, Wang said some disadvantaged groups were not covered by government programs and the president could offer direct and immediate assistance to them.

  ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
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