The new legislative session of the Legislative Yuan begins. The priority bills listed by the Kuomintang group include universal distribution of 20,000 yuan, normalization of universal cash, exemption of health insurance premiums for those over 65 years old, and an increase in subsidies for elderly farmers to 15,000 yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party criticized it as a money trap bill. Zhang Honglin, CEO of the Citizen Oversight Congress Alliance, also bluntly said today (3rd) that the figures for the KMT’s proposals are like bidding in the sky, and the evaluation and data sources behind the policies cannot be seen. They seem to only consider how to retaliate against the country, and do not care about whether they can return to power. This is the most terrifying thing.
President Lai Ching-te announced a universal cash distribution of 10,000 yuan next year, but the Kuomintang group advocated that a "universal cash distribution of 20,000 yuan" be completed by the end of this year. The amount of universal cash distribution next year will be determined by the economic growth rate. They also proposed to amend the "Budget Law" to require that the excess tax collection reaches a certain threshold before universal cash payment should be made. In addition, the Executive Yuan plans to increase the allowance for elderly farmers from NT$8,110 to NT$10,000 per month, while Blue and White advocates increasing it to NT$15,000 per month. The Kuomintang also plans to amend the "Elderly Welfare Act", so that the central government will bear the health insurance premiums for seniors over 65 years old, on the premise of eliminating wealth.
Zhang Honglin said that budget preparation is the power of the executive branch, but the Kuomintang has been doing the work of the president and the Executive Yuan, overstepping the role of congressional supervision and violating the principle of separation of powers. If the Kuomintang leader Fu Kunqi insists on issuing a general distribution of 20,000 yuan and increasing the allowance for old farmers to 15,000 yuan, please use the democratic system to elect the president first.
Zhang Honglin also said that the most terrifying thing is that the Kuomintang does not seem to want to return to power at all. Just like in the past when the "Financial Planning Law" was revised, a large amount of the central budget was allocated to local governments, but it did not think that if it returned to power in the future, it would only tie its own hands and feet. It is obvious that the Kuomintang no longer considers governing. The amendment of the law only wants to retaliate against the DPP, paralyze the national system, undermine fiscal discipline, and drag the country down with it.
In addition, Zhang Honglin pointed out that the government gives the Kuomintang more than 200 million yuan in "party subsidies" every year, mainly in the hope that the political party can propose responsible policies through think tank discussions. However, the Kuomintang's current proposals are all based on feelings or the numbers that Fu Kunqi said casually. Before the Kuomintang group proposed these figures, what kind of internal staff meetings did it hold? How can such advice be extended?
Zhang Honglin emphasized that the policies proposed by a responsible political party must go through rigorous dialectics and discussion. The Kuomintang is now moving towards personal emotions and desperado-style proposals, which are like time bombs in society. Everyone must be alert. If normal people in the Kuomintang do not reflect and review quickly and allow the party to amend the law in a retaliatory manner, this party will eventually be eliminated.
