Taiwan's parliament finally cleared its long-stuck national budget, and the fallout is bad for the opposition KMT, which is now taking fire from a prominent pollster on its own side of the political fence.

• After 351 days of deadlock, the Legislative Yuan passed the 2026 central government budget, including the big drone-defense spending, which the KMT waved through in full.
• The KMT attached a condition: the drone money must be spread evenly over six years, with no single year allowed to go over budget.
• Pollster Wu Tzu-chia tore into the KMT as spineless "soft-legged shrimp," saying the party keeps losing to President Lai Ching-te and then fights among itself instead.
• He pointed to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu publicly blasting KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi as a sign of the infighting, and flatly told voters not to back the KMT.

Outlook: The budget is now law, but the KMT's internal feuding and its loss of face over the drone funding are set to shape the run-up to Taiwan's 2028 presidential race.