Opposition again blocks defense, general budgets in Legislature

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Opposition parties on Friday again blocked a special budget aimed at bolstering Taiwan's overall defense posture and the general 2026 budget because of what they said was the government's failure to prepare a budget consistent with the law.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus had placed a motion on the agenda for Friday's legislative session that would have sent the budget proposals to committee for review, but it was voted down 59-50 by lawmakers from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP).

The vote came after Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) warned that failure to pass the NT$3.03 trillion (US$95.88 billion) general budget could keep the central government from accessing NT$299.2 billion in funds, including for defense and local government allocations.

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Those funds would be earmarked for new initiatives (NT$101.7 billion), running expenses and continuing programs (NT$180.5 billion) and the First and Second Reserve Funds and the Disaster Reserve Fund (NT$17 billion).

The government will still be able to draw on other funds for such payments as civil servant salaries and statutory social welfare payments under a "provisional budget" mechanism based on the previous year's approved budget.

KMT caucus Secretary-General Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) told reporters after the vote that his caucus hopes President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) administration will first compile the budget in accordance with the law.

Lo urged the Lai administration to fully allocate funds for military pay raises as well as pension increases for retired police officers and firefighters, in line with bills passed by opposition parties last year.

The Cabinet has declined to earmark funds for the raises and has sought constitutional interpretations of the bills, which are still pending.

Lawmakers from the two opposition parties also blocked a proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget unveiled by Lai on Nov. 26. It was the sixth time opposition lawmakers had voted against the special budget.

The opposition has demanded that Lai brief the Legislature on the special budget and respond to lawmakers' questions before any review of the spending plan begins.

The TPP has also criticized the proposal, saying that amid delays in the delivery of U.S.-ordered weapons, it is unreasonable to expect opposition backing for what it described as an "opaque" defense spending plan that does not clearly specify funded items.