The Legislative Yuan erupted into chaos yesterday, with legislators headbutting and choking each other before a vote was finally held to pass a resolution supporting the nation's World Health Organization observership bid.
Independent legislator Chu Hsing-yu (
Later, the feisty lawmaker took two breathalyzer tests to prove his sobriety after his sparring partner claimed he'd been drinking.
The legislative caucases originally had an understanding to pass the motion before the World Health Assembly started this year, but because of Chu's grudge against the DPP, a result of its opposition to Chu's bill to cancel bonuses for tax investigators, Chu boycotted the motion from the DPP caucus yesterday.
Cable TV stations showed Chu -- who has a reputation for unruly behavior -- approach Lai and begin bumping his shoulder against Lai's as colleagues tried to separate them.
The stocky Chu grabbed Lai by his jacket collar, tying to wrestle him down on a desk. Chu then tried to headbutt Lai and eventually jabbed him in the stomach, before lawmakers pulled them apart.
Lai said he wasn't hurt, and that he'd "smelled alcohol very clearly when he [Chu] was close."
"Legislators should take an alcohol test before meetings," he joked. "Otherwise this will influence the country no less than drunk driving affects traffic."
Chu denied he'd drunk any alcohol. He called a traffic policeman into the legislature and took two breathalyzer tests in front of the TV cameras.
"Both times it was zero," Chu said as he showed off the slips of paper with the test results.
After the fight, the motion underwent an anonymous vote, and the majority of legislators agreed to pass the motion. But Chu again demanded further negotiations.
The sitting was forced to break, and several DPP legislators tried to placate Chu.
The motion then went through another vote after the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) demanded an open vote, and it finally passed with only one vote against it. Chu voted in favor of the motion.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
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