A melee rupted at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators physically removed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from the speaker’s rostrum ahead of today’s vote on the president’s Control Yuan nominees.
DPP legislators at about 3:40pm entered the legislative chamber and began removing the KMT legislators, who had been there since Tuesday to protest the nomination of former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊) to be Control Yuan president.
An intense struggle ensued and at one point during the hour-long scuffle, KMT Legislator Lai Shyi-bao’s (賴士葆) was hit by a chair thrown across the chamber and his forehead began to bleed.
Photo: CNA
KMT legislators Cheng Li-Wun (鄭麗文), Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) and Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳳) said that they began to feel unwell during the clash and went to hospital for treatment.
The DPP legislators eventually prevailed and secured the rostrum.
Surrounded by DPP legislators Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文), Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) and Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲), Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) hastily read a motion submitted by the DPP caucus regarding today’s vote.
The motion was put to a vote amid KMT objections. It was later passed.
None of the KMT legislators voted, while all three New Power Party legislators voted against it.
The motion asserted that the vote on the nominees would proceed today as scheduled and that it would be conducted as a secret ballot.
KMT Legislator Chen Yu-chen (陳玉珍), donning a bicycle helmet and goggles, reportedly tried to snatch the microphone out of You’s hand, only to be carried away by DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) and some female DPP lawmakers.
The KMT caucus later accused You of contravening legislative procedure by not handing out ballots to KMT lawmakers for the vote on the motion — an accusation that the Legislative Yuan secretary denied.
The KMT urged people to join it in a protest against the Control Yuan nominations outside the Legislative Yuan at 8:30am today.
It hopes that people from across the nation who oppose the Control Yuan nominations would “stand up” today to make their disapproval clear to the DPP and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) said.
Wang called the nominations the “greenest” and “worst” in the nation’s history, and urged KMT supporters to express their “outrage” over the nominations, as well as their support for KMT legislators inside the legislative chamber.
She asked those who planned on participating in the rally to use sun protection and remain hydrated.
The protest is to be streamed on the KMT’s Web site, a party statement said.
Additional reporting by Sean Lin and Lin Liang-sheng
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