NEW TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Opposition legislators voted down the Cabinet's budget bill for the second time on Tuesday (Sept. 24), as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators protested.

During the session of the legislature's Procedure Committee, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted against the bill with nine votes to the DPP’s seven, while one legislator abstained, per CNA. DPP Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠), who chaired the session, said it would be unprecedented if a government budget continued to be postponed in this way.

The KMT and TPP said they rejected the budget in opposition to funding earmarked for compensation for logging bans for Indigenous people, health insurance, and the government's acquisition of public food stock. For these reasons, the KMT and TPP caucuses also rejected the budget on Friday (Sept. 20).

KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) said the legislature has passed laws requiring increased funding for these items. She said if the Cabinet redrafts the budget to include adequate funding, the KMT caucus will vote to pass it.

Before the Tuesday vote, TPP caucus leader Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the TPP and KMT caucuses would return the budget bills, citing the same reasons for rejecting it as on Friday.

Aware that the bill would not receive enough support, DPP legislators held up placards in protest during the vote.

An amendment to the law governing cross-strait relations proposed by the DPP’s Puma Shen (沈伯洋) was also voted down in Tuesday’s session. The amendment would require legislators to apply for the central government's permission to travel to China.

The budget bill will be voted on again when the legislature reconvenes on Friday (Sept. 27).