Retired police officers and firefighters in Taiwan have taken to the streets, calling on the Executive Yuan to implement pay-rise and pension legislation that has already been passed — bad news for the police and firefighting community, and fresh political pressure on the Executive Yuan.

• Taiwan People's Party chairman Huang Kuo-chang led more than a hundred retired police officers and firefighters in a protest outside the Executive Yuan, demanding that the government allocate the pension budget as required by law.
• Last year, on the strength of the KMT-TPP majority, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Act of Military Service Personnel Pay and the Police Personnel Administration Act, raising the ceiling on the income replacement rate for retired police and firefighters to 80 percent, with retroactive effect.
• The Executive Yuan takes the view that these bills would substantially increase government spending, and has suspended the budget allocation while petitioning for a constitutional interpretation and a temporary injunction.
• The protesters point out that the halt to pension cuts for civil servants and teachers — the subject of a similar constitutional petition — has already been paid out under the new rules this year, while retired police and firefighters have yet to receive a single cent.
• KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi also appeared in support, and the Executive Yuan sent a representative to receive the petition.

Outlook: The budget deadlock is unlikely to be resolved soon and may ultimately have to await a ruling from the Constitutional Court, with protests by police and firefighters and confrontation between the governing and opposition camps likely to intensify further.