The DPP Legislative Yuan caucus took advantage of their majority in legislative members to pass the official budget of the central government’s general budget for the next year to the second reading. (Committees are where actual reviews of the budget take place, by sending it straight to the second reading, the DPP is essentially passing budgets without undergoing any reviews or deliberation.)
Never in history has the general budget been taken out of committees while still undergoing reviews, and sent straight to the second reading. Not even when KMT was the majority party in the Legislative Yuan.
Since 2008, review of the government’s total budget has always been completed in January of that year. (Except during general election years – 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020- where the deliberation of the government budget was completed in December of the previous year).
We condemn the action that the DPP has taken, clearly depriving the power of the legislators, including DPP legislators.
The total budget of the central government next year is more than two trillion TWD. At least, it must undergo a substantive review by the committee. This is a matter of basic respect for legislative power and democratic procedures.
