Budget talks likely central to next legislative sessionSEEKING APPROVAL: Budget packages and draft Constitutional amendments for the abolishment of the control and examination branches are with legislatorsBy Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerExecutive Yuan officials on Saturday urged the Legislative Yuan to prioritize the government’s budget proposals for a special relief package, the third-phase of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program and the 2021 fiscal year in its upcoming session. The Legislative Yuan holds two regular sessions per year — the first from February to May and the second from September to December. Executive Yuan officials this month met with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus, government sources said, citing legislators as saying that the special relief package funding would probably pass a third reading in October. Police officers guard an entrance to the Legislative Yuan building in Taipei in an undated photograph. While the DPP holds 69 legislative seats, the KMT holds 35 — more than a quarter of all seats — and is capable of blocking a constitutional amendment proposal.

Source: Taipei Times August 23, 2020 15:56 UTC