The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met for only three minutes early this morning to discuss the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), as debates continue about proposed amendments.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) led legislators into the meeting room as soon as doors opened at dawn, with fellow KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) acting as this session’s committee chair.
Chen scheduled debates for Oct. 7 and 21, as well as further reviews for Monday, today and tomorrow to debate the 22 proposals currently under review.
Photo: CNA
None of the drafts were submitted by the Executive Yuan.
The proposals seek to increase the proportion of taxes that go to local governments, rather than the central government, which could reduce its ability to control national finances and fund major projects related to infrastructure, social welfare and defense.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chu-yin (林楚茵) said that the KMT “occupied” the meeting.
The DPP’s stance is that such an important law such as the one in question requires consensus from the counties and cities, as well as the central government, Lin said.
The DPP in prior meetings has had plenty of opportunities to speak, Chen said, adding that she wishes the session could be conducted peacefully.
Dozens of KMT legislators gathered at the committee room early shouting slogans, followed by Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers arriving with signs that called for more equitable resource allocation, causing DPP lawmakers to condemn the disruption of proceedings.
Chen arrived at the committee at 5:40am, with the meeting scheduled to start at 9am.
When it did commence, she read through the proposed amendments, and after no consensus was reached, adjourned the meeting at 9:03am.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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