Legislature upholds 2025 government budget plan

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) The Legislature on Wednesday voted to uphold the 2025 central government's general budget plan it had previously passed through majority votes, an expected outcome that blocked the Cabinet's bid to overturn the legislation.

In a revote on the legislative floor, lawmakers from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP), who together form a majority in the Legislature, once again endorsed the budget plan they adopted in December 2024.

The vote, 61-51 in the current Legislature with 112 seats, broke along party lines and came as no surprise to the government, which has said it would consider taking the issue to the Constitutional Court as its next step.

"The last resort is to seek constitutional relief," Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said at the Legislature on Tuesday, emphasizing the need for the government to seek an examination of whether the budget plan "adheres to the provisions and spirit of the Constitution."

However, the Constitutional Court has virtually been immobilized after amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act requiring a minimum of 10 justices to hear and rule on a case took effect at the end of January.

While the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has petitioned the Constitutional Court for adjudication that it hopes will suspend or revoke the measures hindering the court's operations, the court has yet to take any action on the matter.

Wednesday's revote was requested by the Cabinet on Feb. 27 in a bid to overturn the budget plan it said had "affected the normal operations" of targeted government agencies due to cuts and freezes ordered by the Legislature.

As per Article 3-2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, the executive body may -- with the president's approval -- request a legislative revote on legislation lawmakers have passed, if it considers such a law "difficult to implement."

On Wednesday, the KMT and TPP lawmakers also upheld the revisions to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures, in a 61-51 vote.

The revotes marked the fifth instance where the DPP government has failed to block legislation it opposed since President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) took office less than 10 months ago.