The Legislature’s review of the general budget bill has stalled since KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) legislators together demanded the Cabinet revise its spending plan. In order to facilitate dialogue, Cabinet Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) have jointly invited the ruling and opposition party legislative caucus whips to a dinner party on October 4.
A number of lawmakers have approved of this gesture, among them DPP Legislative Caucus Secretary-General Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), who praised Cho for taking the initiative to cooperate with Han to resolve the issue. She said she hopes the dinner will allow all parties to communicate openly and sincerely and without preconditions.
KMT legislator Lin Szu-Ming (林思銘) was similarly pleased with the offer, but emphasized that even in a dinner party setting he will prioritize substantive discussion about the budget. Finally, TPP legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) also expressed his optimism about the opportunity to speak with the other party leaders face-to-face.
Last week, opposition lawmakers voted to return the 2025 central government budget bill back to the Procedure Committee for further review and revisions. The KMT legislative caucus asked for revisions on the grounds that a number of resolutions expanding government subsidization programs were not written into the budget.