The deadlock in Taiwan's political arena over the military's drone budget and a special statute is bad news for defence procurement, which urgently needs the drones.

• The Legislative Yuan passed the central government's general budget on its third reading, and the unmanned-vehicle budget that the opposition had earlier proposed to cut ultimately passed in full.

• The Executive Yuan criticised the opposition for first cutting the budget and then reinstating it while claiming credit for itself, calling it a "self-directed performance."

• What is truly stuck is the special statute on the procurement of domestically developed unmanned vehicles for national defence; there are currently 14 versions awaiting inter-party negotiation, and the opposition's stance remains unclear.

• This year's general budget was delayed by 351 days — the latest third reading in history — affecting the operations of the five Yuan as well as the Executive Yuan's contract personnel, human-rights, and publicity funding.

Outlook: The Executive Yuan will present next year's general budget on the 20th, and whether the drone special statute can pass will depend on the inter-party negotiations to come.