Taiwan Legislative Yuan freezes Premier Cho Jung-tai's salary

The Legislative Yuan has passed a proposal to freeze the salary of Premier Cho Jung-tai for four months, from September to December, totaling approximately 1.48 million TWD. This marks the first instance of such a salary freeze in the history of the Republic of China's constitutional system.

Opposition lawmakers from the Kuomintang and Taiwan People Party have cited several reasons for the move, including allegations of constitutional violations and dereliction of duty. Specifically, they criticized the Executive Yuan for refusing to countersign several legislative amendments, such as the Financial Revenue and Expenditure Allocation Act. Additionally, the Premier has faced scrutiny regarding a private trip to Japan for the World Baseball Classic, which raised questions about the potential misuse of public resources.

In response to criticisms regarding the legality of the freeze, Kuomintang legislator Weng Hsiao-ling argued that the salary freeze is not a permanent deletion but a measure tied to constitutional compliance. She stated that the conditions for unfreezing the funds include the Executive Yuan properly countersigning laws and adhering to legal budget allocations.