KMT Legislator Wendy Weng Proposes Freezing Premier Cho's Salary; DPP Criticizes as 'Political Bullying'

KMT legislator Wendy Weng has proposed freezing Premier Cho Jung-tai's salary for four months, from September to December, asserting that the freeze could be lifted if the Executive Yuan fulfills three conditions: legally compiling the budget, legally co-signing laws, and legally nominating personnel.

In response, DPP legislator Chen Pei-yu criticized the move on the 21st, stating that while it appears to be governmental oversight, it effectively turns budget and salary into tools of pressure and even political bullying.

Chen emphasized that while the Legislative Yuan has the responsibility to supervise the executive branch and the authority to review budgets, oversight should not mean forcing the executive to comply with the legislature's political will, nor should it involve freezing salaries to coerce the administration.

She questioned whether, if the premier's salary can be frozen today, ministers' salaries could be next, and whether any political appointee could have their pay withheld simply because the legislature is displeased—potentially even being summoned to endure humiliation from opposition parties.

Chen challenged whether such actions still align with the principle of separation of powers. She stressed that in a mature democracy, constitutional bodies should exercise their powers independently and lawfully, checking each other without turning oversight into retaliation or budgets into political weapons.

Chen criticized the KMT for increasingly using budgets, personnel appointments, and legislation as political battlegrounds. She argued that while democracy requires strong oversight, it requires even greater respect for institutions—otherwise, today's tactics against disliked figures could tomorrow be used against anyone.

Supervising the government is the Legislative Yuan's duty, but turning that supervision into political retaliation damages public trust in democratic institutions, Chen warned. The harm, she said, would not fall solely on Cho Jung-tai, but on Taiwan's entire democratic system.

In her final appeal to Wendy Weng and the KMT caucus, Chen stated that the public entrusted oversight power to legislators to protect democracy and unite the nation, not to paralyze the executive through political means. 'What people want is governance, not political bullying,' she declared, challenging the KMT caucus: 'Is it really so hard for you to be a loyal legislator serving the Republic of China, Taiwan?'