Mention the Taiwanese legislature to a foreigner and chances are that he or she will mention the brawls between opposing camps that frequently take place on the legislative floor or in committee meetings.
Over the years, images of brawling legislators have been broadcast around the world, shaming the nation’s politicians.
On Sept. 27, 2005, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators struggled with their Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) counterparts over the Organic Act of the National Communications Commission (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) on the legislative floor, injuring then-KMT legislator Chang Sho-wen’s (張碩文) eye and leaving former DPP legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) with scratches on his face and knees.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Then, on Jan. 19, 2007, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) was almost hit by a shoe as DPP legislators blocked the KMT from pushing through the Organic Act of the Central Election Commission (中央選舉委員會組織法), and on April 23 last year, the Internal Administration Committee’s meeting was adjourned shortly after beginning because DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) slapped KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) after Lee called Chiu a “shrew.”
The latest legislative clash erupted on Jan. 18 as the KMT tried to push through a disputed amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法).
During the review, DPP legislators tried to block Wang and Vice Legislative Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) from putting the articles to a vote, attempting to pull Tseng off from the speaker’s podium and snatch his microphone.
Several KMT legislators pinned down DPP Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) because she was getting too close to Tseng, while DPP legislators Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) tussled with KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), scratching Hsieh’s face.
As a result of the latest clash, KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) proposed the idea of introducing a Sergeant-at-Arms — used in the UK House of Commons, the US Congress and other legislative bodies — to maintain order.
Although the legislature is guarded by police officers, no laws authorize the speaker or committee heads to discipline unruly legislators by removing them from legislative meetings.
Pundits were skeptical about King’s proposal, however, mainly because he was the last person who should launch such a proposal.
“It makes sense if the proposal were initiated by Wang, but the idea should never have been proposed by the secretary-general of a political party,” Soochow University political science professor Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said by telephone.
Luo questioned King’s motive, saying that it was evident that the KMT was trying to exercise its clout over the legislature.
“The KMT is trying to completely shut down opposing voices in the legislature and force the opposition to take to the streets, thus giving the KMT the opportunity to label the opposition [a violent party],” Luo said. “This is a conspiracy theory, but it makes sense.”
Legislative watchdog Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) secretary-general Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) expressed a similar view, alleging that the KMT was trying to control the legislature and “rape public opinion.”
“The legislature is not a subordinate organization of any party,” Ho said.
Political commentator Shih Cheng-feng (施政峰) expressed the concern that a Sergeant-at-Arms might become the Presidential Office’s tool to control legislators.
Even the idea of having a Sergeant-at-Arms at the legislature might not minimize brawls between lawmakers, pundits said.
“On the surface, it [the legislature] would look quite calm, but [the mechanism] could not solve the causes of conflict, while the tension between political parties would remain,” Luo said.
Luo said scuffles have resulted in the KMT’s failure to handle controversial bills in accordance with due legislative process.
Article 71 of the Act Governing Legislators’ Exercise of Power (立法院職權行使法) stipulates that disputed proposals should be referred to a plenary session if legislators are unable to reach a consensus after a month of negotiations.
“The KMT needs to enhance communication with the opposition if it wishes to promote its policies,” Luo said.
Ho said: “The KMT does not respect legislative procedure when pushing its policies. The KMT, which has a large majority of seats, also fails to listen to minority parties.”
Instead of waiting for the two parties to improve relations in the legislature, Ho said it was more important for the legislature to strengthen the functions of its Disciplinary Committee by allowing members of civic groups to replace current committee members or to serve as advisors.
However, Shih said the legislative disharmony was a result of the legislature’s political culture, adding that lawmakers had not “internalized” a Western-style “gentleman’s” political culture.
He said that although he agreed with the need to enhance the committee’s functions, he preferred to give the speaker more disciplinary power to maintain order.
“Otherwise, who cares what the legislative speaker says?” Shih said.
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
Labor rights groups yesterday called on the Ministry of Labor to protect migrant workers in Taiwan’s fishing industry, days after CNN reported alleged far-ranging abuses in the sector, including deaths and forced work. The ministry must enforce domestic labor protection laws on Taiwan-owned deep-sea fishing vessels, the Coalition for Human Rights for Migrant Fishers told a news conference outside the ministry in Taipei after presenting a petition to officials. CNN on Sunday reported that Taiwanese seafood giant FCF Co, the owners of the US-based Bumble Bee Foods, committed human rights abuses against migrant fishers, citing Indonesian migrant fishers. The alleged abuses included denying