Lawmakers in Taiwan trade punches in a fierce disagreement over parliamentary reforms

In a fierce disagreement over changes to the legislature, Taiwanese politicians pushed, tackled, and struck one another in parliament on Friday. This happened just days before President-elect Lai Ching-te takes office without a legislative majority.

Before the action ever reached the parliament floor, some legislators were shoving and screaming at one another outside the legislative chamber before any votes were even cast.

In wild scenes, MPs swarmed around the speaker’s position, some leaping over tables and pulling others to the floor. There were further skirmishes in the afternoon, but soon enough the peace returned.

Despite winning the January election, Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in parliament. Lai is set to take office on Monday.

The primary opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has been collaborating with the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to advance their shared ideologies as it has more seats than the DPP but not enough to establish a majority on its own.

The opposition is pushing for increased oversight authority over the administration by the parliament, along with a contentious plan to make it illegal for public servants to lie in parliament.

The DPP refers to the KMT and TPP’s attempt to ram through the plans without following the necessary consultation procedure as “an unconstitutional abuse of power” and claims that this is improper.

“What makes us disagree? Wang Mei-hui, a DPP congressman from the southern city of Chiayi, told Reuters, “We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country.”

All three parties’ legislators participated in the altercations and swapped allegations about who was to fault.

Jessica Chen of the KMT, who is from the Taiwan-managed Kinmen islands, which are close to the Chinese coast, stated that the changes were made possible to allow for more legislative supervision of the executive branch.

Wearing a military-style helmet, she told Reuters, “The DPP does not want this to be passed as they have always been used to monopolizing power.”

Since Taiwan is a boisterous democracy, there are occasionally arguments in the legislature. A dispute over easing U.S. pork imports led to KMT members tossing pig guts into the chamber floor in 2020.

After taking office, the skirmishes increase the likelihood of further unrest and legislative struggle for Lai’s new government.
Wang of the DPP remarked, “I am concerned.”