Taiwanese lawmakers engaged in physical altercations on Friday, shoving, tackling, and hitting each other in parliament amid a heated dispute over proposed reforms, just days before President-elect Lai Ching-te is set to take office without a legislative majority.
The conflict began even before the votes were cast, with lawmakers screaming and shoving outside the legislative chamber. The chaos escalated onto the parliament floor, where lawmakers surged around the speaker’s seat, leaping over tables and pulling colleagues to the ground. Although calm was temporarily restored, further scuffles erupted in the afternoon.
Lai, who will be inaugurated on Monday after winning January’s election, faces a challenging political landscape as his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in parliament. The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), holds more seats than the DPP but lacks a majority. Consequently, the KMT has been collaborating with the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to advance their shared agenda.
The opposition aims to enhance parliamentary oversight of the government, including a controversial proposal to criminalize officials who make false statements in parliament. The DPP argues that the KMT and TPP are attempting to force through these proposals without the customary consultation process, which the DPP labels “an unconstitutional abuse of power.”
“Why are we opposed? We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country,” said DPP lawmaker Wang Mei-hui, representing the southern city of Chiayi.
Lawmakers from all three parties were involved in the altercations, trading accusations about who was to blame. The KMT’s Jessica Chen, from the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands near the Chinese coast, defended the reforms as necessary for better legislative oversight of the executive branch.
“The DPP does not want this to be passed as they have always been used to monopolizing power,” Chen told Reuters, wearing a military-style helmet.
Taiwan, known for its vibrant democracy, occasionally witnesses physical confrontations in parliament. In 2020, KMT lawmakers threw pig guts onto the chamber floor during a dispute over easing U.S. pork imports. The recent clashes foreshadow potential turmoil and parliamentary conflict for Lai’s new government.
“I am worried,” said the DPP’s Wang.
