Water cups flew and lawmakers held shoving matches in what was likely the start of yet another acrimonious and unproductive legislative session yesterday.
Premier Frank Hsieh (
Chanting "Fight corruption, save Taiwan" and "Re-elect the president and the legislature," pan-blue lawmakers occuppied the legislative floor at 10:20am, holding placards and a white banner reading: "Re-elect the president, vice president, premier and legislature."
PHOTO: CNA
Pan-green lawmakers responded by chanting "Dismiss the legislature" and "Begin the session." In addition, some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers held signs reading "Pan-blues, please file a no-confidence vote" and "the government cannot operate in neutral gear."
The first round of lawmaking mayhem climaxed when DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The turmoil came after pan-blue lawmakers condemned Hsieh during the National Affairs Forum, which preceded yesterday's legislative sitting.
They demanded that Hsieh step down or take personal leave, to avoid any conflict of interest while an independent investigator conducts a probe into a riot last month by Thai workers in Kaohsiung, where Hsieh was formerly mayor.
In a bid to resolve the political stalemate, Wang called an emergency meeting with caucus leaders during the recess, during which the DPP caucus agreed to the KMT caucus' request to establish five commissions of inquiry to probe into different "corruption incidents," in exchange for the pan-blue camp's agreement to let Hsieh deliver his policy report.
The five commissions are to probe Kaohsiung City's mass rapid transit system, the north-south high-speed rail system, the release of the Chunghwa Telecom stake, the privatization of the Taiwan Business Bank and allegations of widespread insider trading on the stock market.
During round two of the legislative sparring, the pan-blue alliance reneged on its promise and resurrected its vocal portests during the afternoon session.
Shortly after that session began, DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (
DPP Legislator Kuan Pi-ling (
"Why can't I stand here, while opposition parties get to occupy the legislative floor?" she shouted.
The second round of the legislative session ended in style, with Huang Chao-shun and DPP Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (
Wang then ordered another recess, which lasted for about 15 minutes.
Round three then began, but the session was again disrupted at 3:15pm, when Hsieh tried to take the podium, only to have Huang Chao-shun complain that Wang had failed to inform the legislature of the agreement reached at noon.
Upset by the pan-blue camp's obstructions, the DPP caucus condemned the KMT, attributing the political deadlock to an internal conflict within the KMT.
"Today, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"Ma has proven that he has not only changed a lot after taking the KMT's helm, but that he also knows how to manipulate the legislature," he said.
Dismissing the DPP's accusations, KMT caucus whip Cho Po-yuan (
Meanwhile, the clashes inside the Legislative Yuan were matched by protests that took place outside the legislative compound.
Members of an "anti-arms procurement group" voiced opposition to pushing through the arms procurement bill to committee for review, while the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association requested that the legislature lower the thresholds for constitutional amendments and ratification.
Other protesters included the members of the Taiwan Business Bank labor union.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday called Ma an "irrational chairman" who indulged KMT lawmakers and allowed them to prevent Hsieh from giving his administration report.
"Ma has changed since he became the KMT chairman. His leadership of the KMT is so disappointing," Su said after the DPP's Central Standing Committee meeting.
"The chaotic legislative session proves that Ma is not a rational chairman," Su said.
"If Ma does not rectify this situation, I believe that the people of Taiwan will spurn the KMT in the elections," the DPP chairman said.
In response to this criticism, Ma yesterday said that "long-winded speeches" -- filibusters -- were one of the strategies often used in democratic countries.
"In democratic countries, the so-called `long-winded speech' is actually a strategy used by opposition parties to force the ruling party to make some concessions," Ma said.
Defending the KMT caucus for using an "acceptable" strategy to express its disagreement with the ruling party, Ma said that the "long-winded speech" measures were not necessarily equivalent to taking over the podium.
"I expect the caucus to take reasonable measures when making a stand against the ruling party," he said.
Additional reporting by Jewel Huang and Mo Yan-chih
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