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ANNUAL BUDGET FOR THREE MAJOR ARMS PROCUREMENTS AXED BY LEGISLATURE

ROC Central News Agency

2006-01-13 10:38:13
(repeat)

    Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) The opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan Thursday axed all of the funds in the Ministry of National Defense's (MND's) 2006 budget plan related to a long-stalled U.S. arms procurement package.

    The axed NT$11.2 billion (US$348 million) budget plan -- contained in an MND annual budget plan that is part of the government's 2006 general budget -- featured NT$10.9 billion as a regular annual budget for the procurement of six Patriot III anti-missile batteries, a fund of NT$260 million related to the procurement of eight diesel-electric submarines, and a fund of NT$1 billion related to the procurement of 12 P-3C Orion submarine-hunting aircraft.

    The budget axing motion, raised by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) legislative caucus, cleared the floor of the Legislative Yuan, where the KMT-led "pan blue alliance" holds a slight majority.

    Legislators from across the political spectrum completed their second round of negotiations Tuesday over the government's 2006 general budget, with around 30 items being put to a vote on a plenary legislative session Thursday, including budgets listed for the major U.S. arms package.

    Besides the slashed NT$11.2 billion budget plan, a NT$10 million budget -- as a subsidy for planning for the procurement of 3,000 ton cruisers to be used by the Coast Guard Administration -- was also axed in the vote. "Pan blue alliance" legislators object to the arms procurement bill for the U.S. anti-missile batteries, submarines and submarine-hunting aircraft and have prevented full-house deliberation 45 times since 2004.

    In addition to what the opposition claims is the "exorbitant price" of the weapons, the legislators also object to the procurement being financed by a special budget.

    The initial price tag of the arms package was NT$610.8 billion, but the MND later reduced it to NT$480 billion after the opposition lawmakers rejected the bill.

    Thursday's axing made it certain that the bill is barred again in the legislature's current session, which ends Friday.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/J