Pan-Blues Continue to Eviscerate Gov't

The pro-China parties slashed budgets for two major government organizations this week in retaliation for DPP moves.

Just when we would think that the opposition controlled Legislative Yuan could not possibly do anything else crazy, erratic or treacherous, they seem to manage to surprise.

On Monday, the pan-blue majority in educational affairs committee rammed through a motion to slice over NT$273 million, or 38 percent, from the budget for the Broadcasting Department of the Government Information Office, NT$155 million or 93 percent of the budget of the domestic operations of the GIO, and 49 percent of the NT$307 million allocated for international publicity activities.

On Wednesday, Kuomintang and People First Party legislators outvoted their Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union counterparts by a 20 to 14 margin to slice over NT$500 million from the budget of the Mainland Affairs Council, leaving the Cabinet's agency for the handling of China policy with only NT$260 million for salaries and other basic expenditures and depriving it of any funds to carry out its work.

These actions of the KMT and PFP legislators fully demonstrate that President Chen Shui-bian and the DPP were correct when they warned that the chaos in the Legislature would continue and indeed worsen if the pan-blue camp retained a majority in last December's Legislative Yuan election.

The consequences of the pro-China parties controlling the legislature have proved to be disastrous for the island's political, economic, and social development. In addition to these moves, the pan-Blues have also gutted the Control Yuan and blocked 15 or so needed bills on water, defense, and other issues. This has been coupled with a constant barrage of lies about Chen Shui-bian and the DPP in the talk shows and TV that has been effective in putting the blame on Chen for the island's ailing governance. Reality is clear: the pro-China majority in the legislature is to blame. Let's hope they get tossed out in the next election.

[Taiwan] [KMT] [DPP]