The Legislature on Friday adopted a proposal to send the central government’s 2022 budget back to a series of committees for review, having previously opted to move it directly to the penultimate approval stage.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposed on the legislative floor that the NT$2.2391 trillion (US$80.14 billion) 2022 budget bill be returned to the committee review stage, only three days after using its majority to force the bill through to a second reading and bypassing committee review.
The proposal was adopted without any objection by opposition lawmakers.
The decision was in line with the conclusion of inter-party negotiations on Thursday, where the DPP agreed to back down while the KMT and other opposition figures agreed that the various committees would complete their respective reviews of the budget bill by Dec. 30 and that the bill would clear the Legislature no later than Jan. 28, 2022.
An inter-party negotiation is where all party caucuses convene to seek a consensus on issues. A decision made during the negotiation is binding if it is backed by all party caucuses.
The DPP earlier defended its decision to skip committee review by saying the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) had deliberately held up the process. However, the move sparked outrage among opposition figures, who pointed to the unprecedented nature of the decision and criticized the DPP for disregarding legislative procedure.
Meanwhile, the KMT said it delayed committee reviews to protest the DPP’s use of government resources when campaigning for votes supporting its position in a series of referendums held on Dec. 18.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel