TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) during an interview Tuesday (May 12) gave Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) a failing grade of 59 points, saying the bureaucracy Su leads has failed to fulfill President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) pledge to deliver economic relief to the public amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wang said that cash relief should be extended unconditionally to Taiwanese making less than NT$1.2 million or less per year, Liberty Times reported. He criticized the NT$10,000 (US$330) cash currently being doled out to individuals of lower socioeconomic status, such as those who sell magnolias, sausages, or fruit on the street, those who hold advertisements, and temporary workers, saying that while the intention was good, requiring them to fill out all the forms was too taxing.

In recognition of the hardships people have been enduring, Wang said the government should cut through the red tape and give each person earning NT$1.2 million or less per year NT$10,000 a month, according to the news outlet. A total of 15 million people would be eligible to receive such a stipend, amounting to NT$150 billion a month and NT$450 billion over three months, the report cited him as saying.

Compared to the government’s NT$1.05 trillion relief budget, NT$450 billion is not much to ask for, Wang continued. The councilor insisted that economic relief measures should be extended to those in the middle class because even if they still are earning salaries, they have economic burdens to shoulder, such as children to raise and tuition to pay.