Premier Chen Chien-jen (???) was forced to postpone his address to the Legislative Yuan at the start of its new session Friday due to a boycott by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) over the government’s handling of a range of issues.
Before Chen arrived at the Legislature for his report scheduled to start at 9 a.m., several KMT lawmakers had already occupied the speaker’s podium to keep him from speaking, preventing the day’s activities from proceeding.
The KMT lawmakers demanded that Chen’s Cabinet provide more details on several major issues, including labor insurance reform, energy policy, wages, and long-term care services.
They also placed a large banner on the legislative floor demanding that the government raise a tax surplus rebate from NT$6,000 to NT$10,000.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration said late last year that tax revenues for 2022 would likely exceed budgeted revenues by about NT$450 billion.
With the DPP struggling in the polls after underperforming in local elections in November 2022, DPP lawmakers urged the government to give back some of that surplus to the people, settling on a figure of NT$6,000 per citizen.
The KMT has pushed for a bigger rebate, arguing that some of the funds could come from a similar surplus that was run in 2021.
Once it was clear the premier would not be able to speak Friday, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (???) decided to temporarily suspend the session and hold a cross-party negotiation to decide when it would continue.
A consensus was later reached that the premier return to present his policy address at the Legislature on Feb. 24.
Tseng Ming-chung (???), convener of the KMT legislative caucus, said his caucus had received positive feedback from the ruling party, which also agreed to the premier submitting a written report when he delivers his policy address on Feb. 24.
Cheng Yun-peng (???), a DPP caucus whip, told reporters that Chen would not have been able to present his address Friday morning, but he said that negotiations later went smoothly and that it was hoped the premier’s policy address can proceed on Feb. 24.
The report by a new premier to the Legislature is part of a constitutional tradition.
Article 3, Section 1 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China stipulates that the country’s premier has the duty to present a policy report from his or her administration to the Legislative Yuan and answer lawmaker questions.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel