DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT
The Cabinet, as a workaround, is also proposing to use supplementary budget bills to fill the gap in funding for Taipower and other agencies
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By Chung Li-hua and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Executive Yuan is slated to request a reconsideration of the central government’s general budget on Thursday, a source said yesterday, adding that it could seek a constitutional interpretation and a temporary injunction if the attempt fails.
The Legislative Yuan sent the general budget bill to the Cabinet on Wednesday, 29 days after lawmakers approved its third reading.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Thursday in a Cabinet meeting said the total amount of budget cuts was not specified in a general budget bill returned to the Cabinet.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan would discuss legal, constitutional solutions to examine whether the legislature’s general budget review report complied with the Budget Act (預算法) and the Constitution, he said.
To request reconsideration, the Cabinet must make the proposal within 10 days after the bill is passed by the legislature. That deadline would be Friday.
A source yesterday said on condition of anonymity that the Cabinet would file a request on Thursday ahead of the upcoming 228 holiday, for approval by the president of a reconsideration by the legislature.
The reasons to reconsider the bill include the total budget cuts being unspecified, as well as the 12 challenges facing executive branches — which were proposed by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on Feb. 13 and could not be overcome simply by introducing supplementary budgets, they said.
As the opposition parties hold a majority in the legislature, governing party officials anticipated that the request for reconsideration is likely to fail, the source said.
If the attempt at reconsideration fails, not only the Democratic Progressive Party caucus at the legislature, but also the Cabinet would seek a constitutional interpretation and a temporary injunction with the Constitutional Court, they said.
Noting the Control Yuan filed for a constitutional interpretation on Friday last week, the source said government agencies would operate based on last year’s budget if the Constitutional Court is to render a temporary injunction of this year’s general budget.
The Cabinet would strive to unfreeze the budgets within a month after the new legislative session starts tomorrow, they said.
It would also propose supplementary budget bills in accordance with Article 79 of the Budget Act to make up for the removal of the NT$100 billion (US$3.1 billion) budget for Taiwan Power Co, as budgets removed by the legislature may not be covered by using reserve funds or surplus from other accounts under the same program, the source said.
The Cabinet would also request approval from the legislature to use reserve funds in accordance with Article 22 of the Budget Act to back the largely cut operating expenses for executive branches — which the provision defines as “allocations for legal expenses” that could be disbursed from reserve funds, they said.
The first reserve fund, such as the more than NT$1 billion allocated by the Ministry of National Defense for this year, could be used with a notice to the DGBAS for reference, the source said.
However, the use of the secondary reserve fund, such as the Cabinet’s NT$8 billion set for this year, is subject to the legislature’s prior review if the amount exceeds NT$50 million, they said.
Meanwhile, amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) were returned to the Cabinet along with the general budget bill for promulgation.
Cho has said that the Cabinet would propose a different version of the act based on the consensus among all party caucuses, the central and local governments within this year.
Asked about the issue, the source said the Cabinet is exploring the possibility of filing another request for reconsideration of the amendments also on Thursday.
Additional reporting by CNA
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