Opposition lawmakers yesterday criticized the Cabinet’s budget proposals for the first stage of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, sparking a war of words with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators during cross-caucus talks.
The Legislative Yuan held the negotiations to set the agenda for a second extraordinary session, which is to begin this month.
DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the first to speak after Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), dismissed criticism of the Special Act on the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program (前瞻基礎建設特別條例) — including a statement by Taiwan Democracy Watch that called it “illegal” — since its passage last week.
Photo: CNA
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said that the way the Cabinet budgeted its projects was largely the same as the way it drafted the budget proposal for committee reviews in April, even though the act slashed the budget from NT$882.49 billion (US$28.94 billion) over eight years to NT$420 billion over four years.
The proposal, which requested NT$108.9 billion, is unclear, as it only covers the first two years of the program’s four-year time frame, KMT caucus convener Lin Te-fu (林德福) said, suggesting that it be returned to the Executive Yuan to be redone.
Lin said that the time frames set for projects should not exceed four years as stipulated in the act, because projects exceeding that period must be initiated after the legislative elections in 2020.
KMT vice secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) echoed Lin’s remarks, saying that a large majority of the budgetary items lack viability and cost-effectiveness assessments, which according to the act are the prerequisites for agencies to appropriate funds.
DPP caucus chief executive Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said that the budget proposals remained largely unchanged, because the DPP administration drafted the act based on an eight-year time frame, as it is confident it would remain in power after the 2020 presidential election.
The Cabinet’s budget proposal only covers the first two years of the program because Article 5 of the act stipulates that projects must be divided into several stages, while their solvency and progress should checked by the Executive Yuan after each stage, she said.
DPP caucus secretary-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said that Article 7 of the act allows the program to be continued over another four years if it gains legislative approval.
The People First Party (PFP) was the fiercest among opposition parties in reprimanding the budget proposals, with PFP legislators criticizing the efficacy of the projects.
The Cabinet proposed spending NT$107.08 million to boost inspections of food products, but the amount needed to purchase equipment and pay personnel costs was missing in the proposal, PFP Legislator Chou Chen Hsiu-hsia (周陳秀霞) said.
The nation’s low birth rate was caused by great expenses associated with raising children, and instead of establishing friendly nursing facilities, the Cabinet should have proposed extending the national education system’s coverage to the kindergarten level in a bid to alleviate the financial burden on young couples wanting to have children, Chou said.
PFP Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said she could not fathom how the project is “forward-looking,” adding that the caucus refuses to “sign a blank check that could seal the nation’s fate.”
New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the proposals “lack vision,” demanding that Cabinet-level agencies governing the projects deliver follow-up proposals detailing the funds they need.
Seeing that the proceedings have reached a stalemate, Su announced that the agenda would be decided in negotiations today.
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