Chaos erupted at the Taiwan Parliament on Friday after a bitter dispute over a controversial reform bill. In the middle of the chaos, Guo Guowen, a Member of the Parliament, swiftly snatched the bill documents and made a dramatic dash to prevent it from being passed, showed an online video.
???????? LMAO: A member of Taiwan’s parliament stole a bill “with the speed of an American football player” to prevent it from being passed.
-> That should just be an official process in any democracy. Love it … haha pic.twitter.com/0C4T4DbbSU
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) May 17, 2024
The incident occurred just days before President-elect Lai Ching-te is set to take office on Monday, having won January’s election even though his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) does not have a majority in the legislature, according to Reuters.
Kuomintang (KMT), the primary opposition party, has more seats than the DPP but not enough to control the parliament alone. So, they are teaming up with the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to push for their common goals. The opposition wants to give parliament more power to check the government’s actions, including a controversial plan to punish officials who lie in parliament.
Even before the votes were cast, some lawmakers screamed and shoved each other outside the legislative chamber. Later, the parliament floor saw chaos as lawmakers turned to the Speaker’s seat, jumped onto tables, and pinned down colleagues to the floor. More scuffles followed in the afternoon.
One lawmaker was hospitalised after falling off a platform and injuring his head, reported Khaleej Times.
The DPP accused the KMT and TPP of trying to push through proposals without proper consultation, calling it “an unconstitutional abuse of power.” DPP lawmaker Wang Mei-hui, representing the southern city of Chiayi, stated, “Why are we opposed? We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country,” reported Reuters.
Jessica Chen of the KMT, who represents the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands near China, argued that the reforms were aimed at improving the legislature’s oversight of the executive branch and stated that the DPP does not want the bill to pass “because they are used to having all the power.”
In 2020, KMT lawmakers had strewn pig guts onto the chamber’s floor during a disagreement about US pork imports.