Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would ‘damage democracy’

Taiwanese lawmakers tackled and doused each other with water on Friday as President Lai
Ching-te’s party tried to block the passage of bills they said could harm the self-ruled island’s
“democratic system.”

Scores of lawmakers from Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party had occupied the podium of the
parliament’s main chamber since Thursday night and barricaded themselves inside — piling
up chairs to block entrances.

The DPP parliamentarians were attempting to stop three legal amendments proposed by the
opposition bloc, which would make it more difficult for voters to oust elected officials who
they see as unfit.

“Parliamentary dictatorship,” some DPP lawmakers shouted to criticize the opposition
Kuomintang (KMT) party and its ally Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) for trying to pass the bills
with their majority.

“If the KMT forcefully passes the amendments… Taiwan’s democratic self-checking and self-
repairing mechanism will be gone, and it will also cause significant and irreversible damage to Taiwan’s civil society and democratic system,” the ruling party said in a statement.

“At a time when Taiwan’s democracy is being violated and damaged, we must stand up and
take action,” it added.

Among the disputed bills was a planned revision to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act
pressed ahead by the KMT and TPP to raise the threshold for removing elected officials.

The Beijing-friendly KMT said it would prevent the power of recalls from “being abused” but
some DPP lawmakers said they fear the move would revoke voters’ rights to remove unfit
oficials.

Han Kuo-yu, the current parliament speaker from the KMT, was ousted in 2020 as mayor of
southern Kaohsiung city following a failed presidential bid.

Outside the parliament on Friday, thousands of people gathered to protest the bills, shouting
“return the evil amendments” and “Defend Taiwan”.

“I am here to protest the opposition parties for trying to confiscate the people’s rights to
recall,” graduate student David Chen told AFP.

Earlier this year, reform bills expanding parliament’s powers pushed by the opposition
sparked brawls among lawmakers and massive street demonstrations.

Proponents of the expansion say it is needed to curb corruption, but critics fear the laws
could weaken Taiwan’s democracy against the influence of China — which claims the island as
part of its territory.

In October, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court struck out the most controversial sections of the
law, delivering a partial victory to the DPP which had opposed the reforms.—Agence France-Presse