Taiwanese legislator proposes freezing premier's salary, calls government 'rogue'

Legislator Hung Hsiao-ling has put forward a series of budget proposals, including freezing Premier Cho Jung-tai's salary from September to December and reducing President Lai Ching-te's discretionary funds by NT$10 million while freezing another NT$20 million. These proposals are part of a larger effort by the Kuomintang (KMT) party to address the central government's budget, which has been stalled for 350 days in the Legislative Yuan.

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To deal with a rogue government like this, I would rather starve it than let it get fat.

Hung directly accused Lai and Cho of violating the constitution and the law for over 600 days, calling them "rogue" and stating she would rather "starve it" than let it prosper. She argued that the budget review has been delayed because the Executive Yuan failed to legally allocate funds for military pay raises and differences in police and fire personnel retirement benefits.

Despite an agreement reached after a joint consultation between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan to conditionally restart the review, Hung claims the Executive Yuan has not fulfilled its promises. She pointed out that the proposed budget for 2025 still lacks allocations for military pay and retirement benefits, and that Premier Cho Jung-tai will reportedly not co-sign the "Taiwan Children's Future Account Act," which she interprets as the government deceiving the legislature.

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The budget review has been delayed because Premier Cho Jung-tai did not legally allocate the budget for military pay raises and the difference in police and fire retirement pensions.

Originally proposing around 270 budget cuts and freezes, Hung stated that after extensive communication with government agencies over three months, most issues have been resolved. Approximately 20 proposals remain for a vote in the upcoming session, including the salary freeze for Premier Cho, the cuts to the president's discretionary funds, the complete deletion of the Ministry of Culture's media promotion budget, and a reduction and freeze of public television funding. Hung asserts these proposals are legally grounded, citing a precedent from 2015 where administrative personnel salaries were reduced.

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The Executive Yuan has not fulfilled the promises made during the consultation. Not only that, but the Executive Yuan has become even more aggressive.