Opposition lawmakers set up televised debates with Cabinet over budget

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) Opposition lawmakers on Friday voted to advance a motion to hold three televised debates with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and top Cabinet officials over the government's stymied general budget request.

The move came after Cho on Wednesday demanded a "debate with the Legislature" over the NT$3.03 trillion (US$96.15 billion) general budget proposal, which the opposition-controlled Legislature has refused to review since September.

In doing so, it cited the Cabinet's failure to earmark funds for pension increases for police officers and firefighters and salary raises for active-duty military personnel as required in bills passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the President last year.

Citing constitutional concerns over legislative measures that increase government spending, the Cabinet has refused to implement the increases and petitioned the Constitutional Court for provisional injunctions and constitutional interpretations, all of which are pending.

The televised debates, according to the motion tabled by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) caucus, will pit the caucus leadership -- convener Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) and first deputy secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) -- against Cho, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Cabinet Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵).

The debates will center on "new capital increases and new projects," which according to the Cabinet will cost NT$299.2 billion, the motion says.

A round of cross-caucus negotiations over the proposal will be held before it is deliberated at a plenary legislative meeting.

The motion is likely to pass even if it is rejected by ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers as the KMT and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) hold a majority of seats in the Legislature.

In a statement, the KMT caucus urged Cho to honor his word and be sure to attend the debate, so that both sides can clearly explain the sources of contention to the public.