Budget impasse at Legislature nears end as Cabinet cedes to KMT, TPP demands

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) The monthlong stalemate at the Legislature over the central government's budget plan for the fiscal year 2025 is likely to come to an end after the Cabinet on Thursday agreed to opposition lawmakers' demands.

The agreement was reached after Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), accompanied by his deputy Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and other Cabinet officials, met with ruling and opposition party leaders from the Legislative Yuan.

This is the second time in a month that Cho has negotiated with lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as well as the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), in a bid to break the prolonged gridlock at the Legislature over the budget proposal.

Speaking to reporters after Thursday's meeting, KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said that, in light of the Cabinet's concessions, his party's lawmakers had agreed to vote in favor of the budget bill on the legislative floor on Friday.

With the votes of the DPP and the KMT, which control 51 and 52 seats, respectively, in the 113-seat Legislature, the bill is expected to finally pass the first reading, a necessary step before it can be sent to various legislative committees for more detailed deliberation.

Prior to Thursday, KMT and TPP lawmakers had voted down the budget plan five times on the legislative floor and several rounds of interparty negotiations were held to no avail.

According to the agreement, the Cabinet will revise its NT$3.33 trillion (US$103 billion) budget proposal and increase funding needed to support compensation to Indigenous peoples for a logging ban.

Opposition lawmakers have made agreeing to funding as per the amendments to the Logging Ban Compensation for Lands Reserved for Indigenous Peoples Act a prerequisite for initiating the review of the budget bill at the Legislature since the new legislative session began on Sept. 20.

The amendments were adopted by the Legislature and signed into law by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in June.

The amendments stipulate that compensation for logging bans on Indigenous lands will be increased to NT$60,000 per hectare starting next year, but in the Cabinet's original 2025 budget plan, the compensation remained at NT$30,000 per hectare, with total spending estimated to be NT$2.1 billion.

Under Thursday's agreement, the Cabinet will also increase funding next year to reimburse medical facilities in accordance with a legislative resolution adopted earlier this year and conceive an updated plan for acquiring public food stocks by the end of 2024.