Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget.
The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed NT$2 billion budget — and up to 70 percent of ministerial expenses.
This week, the Legislative Yuan would continue to discuss and vote on the central government’s total budget, as well as hundreds of proposals by KMT and TPP lawmakers to cut specific items.
Although it is within the Legislative Yuan’s power to freeze or cut the government’s budget, the reasons opposition party lawmakers put forward for their budget proposals have generated a public backlash.
KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) submitted a motion to slash the entire NT$2.309 billion budget of Public Television Service (PTS) and its subsidiaries, claiming that the broadcaster only serves the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while other KMT legislators proposed cutting arts and culture grants. The motions were immediately denounced by leading figures in the film and arts industry, while academics launched a petition and urged recalls. KMT lawmakers later backed away from eliminating PTS’ budget allocation in favor of a more modest NT$23 million, or 1 percent, reduction.
Other cuts with absurd rationales include cutting the gender equity budget because “there were too many sexual assault cases”; cutting a ministry’s advertising budget because it has used “blue and white colors in its ‘extremely ugly’ ad picture, as if vilifying the KMT and TPP”; and cutting NT$200 million from the police budget to “effectively fight scams and fraud, so that people will not fall victim to scams.”
Opposition lawmakers have also proposed cutting NT$100 million for firefighters’ helmets and protective equipment due to “concerns that they would be used for war preparedness,” and cutting NT$400 million from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ budget, because “Honduras cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.”
More people and organizations have voiced concerns over such proposals, which they said would drastically affect people’s livelihoods, public safety and social welfare.
However, the KMT and TPP do not seem to be worried about the public reaction. The two parties said the cuts are necessary to tighten supervision over the “corrupt” DPP and prevent it from spending money on propaganda to “attack the opposition” and “brainwash people.”
They pledged to pass further cuts this week.
After KMT and TPP lawmakers took a majority of the Legislative Yuan in February last year, they focused on expanding their legislative power in the first legislative session, but the Constitutional Court ruled that most of their bills were unconstitutional.
During the second session, the opposition legislators started taking more extreme retaliatory measures to paralyze the court and slash the government budget to incapacitate it.
If voters stay indifferent or silently endure the harm caused by the budget cuts, KMT and TPP lawmakers would only become more emboldened to disregard the Constitution. Chen last week called a director who questioned the PTS budget cut “a wicked servant bullying the master,” implying that it is the lawmakers who are masters. She has forgotten that she should be a “servant” serving the public humbly, not bullying those who question her.
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