On Friday, disputes over reforms related to the parliamentary chamber escalated to a brawl, with newly elected President Lai Ching-te’s tenure just around the corner, although with no legislative majority.
The KMT seeks for the parliament to gain more powers of legislative oversight over the government, such as a controversial move that criminalises officials who make false statements in parliament. The over-10 hours of chaos broke out mid-debate with videos across social media showing MPs clamouring over each other, exchanging blows and climbing over tables.
A lawmaker was also seen running outside the parliament with the bill. Though scuffles calmed for short periods of time, the parliamentary brawls continued till the afternoon. However, it led to Puma Shen, a prominent MP from the DPP getting hospitalised after sustaining a head injury alongside four others.
DPP head Ker Chien-ming had also recently accused the KMT of forcing through legislation without the procedural consultation processes. The KMT responded by restating its adherence towards constitutional procedures.
The Taiwan parliament sees no clear majority this year. While the Kuomintang (KMT) has attained a greater number of legislative seats than the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), it has no majority, with the rest of the seats going to the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
While the brawl was subject to a field day under netizens’ trolling and satirical posts, the chaotic and fragmentary condition of the parliament outlines the complicated circumstances for the incoming President.
Not the first time for Taiwanese parliament
This was not the first time Taiwan’s parliament witnessed brawls during its proceedings. In 2020, ham innards flew within the Parliament. The conflict was due to the DPP’s decision to remove the restrictions on meat imports from the U.S., where ractopamine, a controversial chemical was commonly used to grow leaner pork. KMT members hurled pigs’ guts during a policy speech by the then-premier, Su Tseng-chang.
In 2017, a dispute over an infrastructure bill proposed by the DPP led to water balloons hurled within the Parliament. The KMT’s main critique of said bill was the biased division of money that favoured regions and cities with greater support towards the DPP, thus, baiting votes ahead of the 2018 local elections.
In 2006, chaos unfolded when DPP politician Wang Shu-hui, in an attempt to stop the voting over a proposal that opened transport links directly with China, snatched the proposal and tried to eat it.
While such incidents often become topics of entertainment for the world at large, the repeated breaches of decorum within the Taiwanese Parliament signal violence being accepted as a means of showcasing dissent and a lack of inter-party trust. Netizens also suspect that these violent instances are rather planned or at least contain certain political motivations.
Nevertheless, as is with parliamentary brawls in any other country, they subtly undermine democratic proceedings and hurt public trust towards their leaders.
