Days before President-elect Lai Ching-te takes office without a legislative majority, Taiwanese lawmakers engaged in physical confrontations in the parliament on Friday over proposed reforms.
Prior to the commencement of voting, a few lawmakers pushed and yelled at one another outside the legislative chamber. Later, the altercation spread to the parliament floor.
Lawmakers clashed around the speaker's chair, causing chaos with some falling over tables and pulling their colleagues to the ground. 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 will take office on Monday.
The Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) are working together to promote their common ideologies. The KMT has more seats than the DPP, but not enough to have a majority on its own.
The opposition wants to give the legislature more authority to scrutinize the government. A possible solution is to prohibit government employees from making false statements in front of lawmakers.
The DPP claims that the KMT and TPP are illegally trying to push through proposals without following the proper consultation process.
During the altercations, lawmakers from all three parties participated and traded accusations about who was at fault.
Jessica Chen of the KMT said that the Kinmen islands, which are administered by Taiwan and located near China's coast, have experienced changes due to better legislative oversight of the executive branch.
Since Taiwan is a boisterous democracy, there are occasionally arguments in the legislature. In 2020, a fight over easing U.S. pork imports led to KMT members throwing pig guts onto the chamber floor.
The clashes suggest that after taking office, Lai's new government may face additional unrest, including parliamentary conflict.
