In what has become a signature of legislative politics, lawmakers yesterday began brawling on the legislative floor over a controversial piece of legislation.
The brawl began over a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-proposed bill that would make the Central Election Commission (CEC) an organization whose members are selected in proportion to a party's number of seats in the legislature.
The conflict erupted after Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) tried to open yesterday's plenary session, which was scheduled to review the CEC organic law (中選會組織法).
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
This was to be followed by a review of this year's government budget request.
Wang was initially unable to enter the chamber, as scores of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers cornered him in the speaker's break room in the rear part of the chamber.
He finally managed to escape and made his way into the chamber after KMT lawmakers rushed the DPP blockade and shoved their way through their opposing lawmakers.
But Wang was still unable to preside over the meeting.
Dozens of pan-green lawmakers rushed at Wang from his right and pushed him from the dais, despite a scrum of dozens of pan-blue lawmakers who were trying to push back from Wang's left.
Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) tried unsuccessfully to use his large physical presence to try to create a corridor for Wang.
Police stood by during the melee and did not try to intervene.
The wrestling left several legislators injured, with three medical personnel treating the casualties right on the floor.
The meeting then went into a recess.
Lawmakers who took part in the scuffle blamed the other side for the fight.
"Former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has to take responsibility for today's incident, because he asked the KMT caucus whip to boycott talks on the controversial CEC bill," DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
Ker said the KMT legislative caucus went back on a promise they had made on Monday that they would participate in party negotiations between Wang and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
But KMT legislative caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) denied Ma was responsible, saying the negotiations were simply a "delaying tactic" by the DPP to block the CEC bill.
After a meeting with Wang yesterday afternoon, KMT legislative caucus whips eventually agreed to talk with Su on the CEC bill today.
"In [today's] negotiations, I hope the Executive Yuan will come up with a proposal [to amend the CEC] that is acceptable to the pan-blue camp," Wang said.
The DPP accuses the KMT of pushing the passage of the CEC bill in an effort to thwart a referendum over recovering the KMT's stolen assets.
Additional reporting by AP
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
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
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS