The opposition coalition in the legislature has moved to block consideration
of a special defense budget again.

That's the sixth time in over a month that the KMT and TPP have united to
block the 1.25 trillion NT special budget from being examined in the
legislature.

In November, the Executive Yuan proposed the special budget for defense,
which would span 8 years.

The opposition says that it will not consider the budget until the 2026
central government budget accounts for changes passed by the legislature to
allocate pay raises for active-duty military and pension increases for
teachers and civil servants.

In an effort to get the budget on the agenda for today, DPP Caucus Leader
Chen Pei Yu and others lined up outside the chamber last night to submit the
budget for consideration first thing this morning.

But ultimately, the chamber failed to reach a consensus, so when speaker Han
Kuo-yu ordered a vote, the KMT and TPP succeeding in blocking the referral of
the bill.

(AH)