The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus blatantly lied in accusing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus assistants of hitting lawmakers when in fact it was DPP lawmakers that attacked KMT staff, the KMT caucus said yesterday.
The KMT caucus held a news conference to condemn the DPP’s “bullying” of its aides following a committee review of the Cabinet’s budget proposals.
One assistant, surnamed Chu (朱), responding to DPP Legislator Chang Hung-lu’s (張宏陸) claim that Chu had hit DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩), said that Chen had charged at him and choked him after seeing him with a carton of water he was planning to give to KMT lawmakers.
Another KMT assistant said that he “brushed off Chen’s hand” in a bid to rescue Chu.
Chen Yu-kai (陳昱愷), an assistant to KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), said that he physically blocked KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) from DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), who was "charging angrily at Huang after spotting Huang with a bottle of water.”
Chen Yu-kai said that he knew he could not get engaged in a confrontation with a lawmaker, so he turned his back to Wang.
However, Wang told reporters that Chen hit him, Chen said.
“I do not know whether Wang’s embarrassment turned into rage after his attempt at violence was thwarted, but I would like to ask him not to slander others,” Chen Yu-kai said.
Earlier in the day, when asked why Wang appeared to be going after her, Huang said: “Because I was throwing water.”
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said that the DPP caucus allowed two of its assistants onto a rostrum that is off-limits to them.
The DPP must not allow their assistants to interfere with the legislative proceedings, or it could inspire lawmakers from other parties to take similar actions and turn the legislative process into “mob” clashes, Lin said.
KMT vice secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said the DPP accusations against KMT caucus staffers was an example of “legislative bullying” and “the culprit accusing the victim.”
The DPP caucus members also gave reporters their own accounts of the action.
DPP caucus secretary-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) condemned the involvement of legislative assistants in the KMT’s obstruction of the review, including physically, saying that one aide got into a scuffle with DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇).
Lee said the legislative chamber is exclusively for lawmakers and government officials, and that lawmakers should be held accountable for misconducts by their assistants.
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) would be asked to order more security, Lee said.
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