Taipei: Premier Cho Jung-tai announced that the Executive Yuan will pursue appropriate administrative remedies against a bill recently passed by the Legislature, which raises volunteer soldiers’ monthly allowance to NT$30,000 (US$1,016). This move was described as unconstitutional and illegal by a Cabinet spokesperson.
According to Focus Taiwan, the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to Article 5 of the Pay Act of the Armed Forces on Tuesday. This amendment, proposed by the main opposition Kuomintang, raises the monthly allowance for volunteer soldiers by over NT$15,000, alongside other benefits. The new allowance is set to be effective from January 1, 2026, and will apply to all volunteer military personnel, irrespective of rank.
At a regular Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Premier Cho underscored that Taiwan began implementing an across-the-board pay raise for military personnel on April 1. He highlighted that the recently passed bill violates Article 70 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the Legislative Yuan cannot propose increases in expenditures in budgetary bills presented by the Executive Yuan. This was stated by Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee during a news briefing after the meeting.
Cho further contended that the bill contravenes Article 91 of the Budget Act and Article 5 of the Fiscal Discipline Act. These articles mandate that if a legislative proposal significantly increases annual expenditures or decreases annual revenues, legislators must consult with the Executive Yuan and specify funding sources for the increase. Lee reported that Cho criticized the repeated bypassing of the requirement to consult with the Cabinet as unconstitutional, illegal, and detrimental to the government finances’ structure and capacity.
Lee cited Cho’s statement that the Executive Yuan will seek appropriate administrative remedies to address the matter in the future. Furthermore, Cho remarked that if the Legislature genuinely supports national defense and homeland security resilience, it should unfreeze the Ministry of National Defense’s budget and support a draft bill proposed by the Cabinet aimed at enhancing economic, social, and home security resilience.
“It should not just approve raises for the military while refusing to finance equipment upgrades or other security resilience measures,” Cho was cited as saying.