Taipei: Lawmakers noisily disagreed over procedural issues in the Legislature on Monday in relation to an act regulating the allocation of funding between central and local governments, leading to deadlock at the Finance Committee. Opposition lawmakers shouted and held up placards with the slogan "fat central government, poor local governments" while legislators from the ruling party shouted back and held up signs suggesting there were "major flaws" in legislative procedure over the committee's earlier handling of the funding bill. According to Focus Taiwan, the conflict in the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's highest democratic assembly, stemmed from the fact that the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which together with the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPT) has a majority in the Legislature, is seeking to pass 22 amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures opposed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The proposed amendments aim to raise the proportion of government revenues that go to local governments at the expense of the central government, which is currently allocated 75 percent while local governments receive 25 percent of available funding. The amendments would also prevent the central government from reducing the amount of subsidies not included in the 75-25 ratio split currently regulated by the act. On Nov. 6, KMT lawmaker Chen Yu-jen, then chairperson of the Legislature's Finance Committee, declared that the proposed amendments had cleared the committee review stage and adjourned the meeting just three minutes after it started. At the Finance Committee meeting held on Monday under the new chairmanship of DPP lawmaker Lai Hui-yuan, the opposing camps locked horns over how the draft amendments were handled last week. DPP lawmaker Wu Ping-jui argued that the meeting's minutes were "not recorded according to the regulations," suggesting that the minutes not be confirmed. Wu stated that last week's bill review procedure seriously violated official regu lations and should be considered invalid. KMT lawmaker Chen countered that the DPP had made adjustments to the KMT's version of the draft amendments and reiterated that the amendments had been discussed. DPP caucus whip Wu Szu-yao highlighted the disagreement over whether the draft amendments had cleared the committee review stage according to regulations as a "major controversy" and called for Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu to address the issue through cross-party negotiations. As the stand-off continued, lawmakers engaged in physical confrontations to seize control of microphones to shout down opposing members. Lai, the DPP lawmaker presiding over the committee meeting, walked off and did not return, causing the remaining lawmakers to disperse at around 5.30 p.m. Without a consensus on the legitimacy of the last meeting's outcome, the partisan impasse is expected to persist in the coming days.
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