Taiwan Parliament Fights
Parliamentary proceedings can be perceived as boring in civilised societies like Singapore where the members use only their mouths to express themselves. Hence some MPs can be caught dozing off every now and then. I suppose Taiwan's parliament might be the most entertaining in the world where the members regularly let their fists and feet do the talking as well. In the heat of their arguments, they would throw chairs at, punch, kick and slap their opponents. In America, we have WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). In Taiwan, we have TPE (not Tampines Expressway, but Taiwan Parliament Entertainment).
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The Associated Press, Saturday, 20th January, 2007
"Taiwan Legislature Dissolves Into Chaos "Taiwan Legislature Dissolves Into Chaos"
The Associated Press
Friday, January 19, 2007; 9:20 AM
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A ruling party lawmaker threw a shoe at the speaker of Taiwan's legislature on Friday and assorted colleagues pushed and shoved each other, throwing the final day of the winter legislative session into chaos.
The scenes were reminiscent of past Taiwanese legislative brawls, and represented another low point in the island's sometimes stormy transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Friday's trouble erupted when dozens of lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party stormed the speaker's dais to prevent voting on a proposal to change the composition of the Central Election Commission.
The commission is responsible for administering elections on the island of 23 million people and is generally considered nonpartisan.
Opposition Nationalists responded to the DPP's move by rushing forward to protect speaker Wang Jin-pyng, one of the Nationalists' senior members.
DPP lawmaker Wang Shu-huei flung a shoe at the speaker, but it struck the face of a lawmaker next to him.
Another legislator threw the shoe back at Wang Shu-huei and ripped up a DPP political placard. Earlier, a DPP lawmaker grabbed a Nationalist by the jacket collar and tried to push him down against a desk, while dozens of legislators pushed and shoved in the background.
Taiwan's Legislature has a reputation for violent incidents ever since the dismantling of martial law in 1987.
Friday's brawls followed a motion by the opposition _ which holds a slim majority at the 219-seat Legislature _ asking for the Central Election Commission to be selected according to the parties' electoral strength.
At present, members of the commission are nominated by the government and approved by the president.
The opposition called the commission's impartiality into question amid months of legal wrangling following President Chen Shui-bian's narrow victory in the 2004 presidential election.
----------------------------------
The Associated Press, Saturday, 20th January, 2007
"Taiwan Legislature Dissolves Into Chaos "Taiwan Legislature Dissolves Into Chaos"
The Associated Press
Friday, January 19, 2007; 9:20 AM
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A ruling party lawmaker threw a shoe at the speaker of Taiwan's legislature on Friday and assorted colleagues pushed and shoved each other, throwing the final day of the winter legislative session into chaos.
The scenes were reminiscent of past Taiwanese legislative brawls, and represented another low point in the island's sometimes stormy transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Friday's trouble erupted when dozens of lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party stormed the speaker's dais to prevent voting on a proposal to change the composition of the Central Election Commission.
The commission is responsible for administering elections on the island of 23 million people and is generally considered nonpartisan.
Opposition Nationalists responded to the DPP's move by rushing forward to protect speaker Wang Jin-pyng, one of the Nationalists' senior members.
DPP lawmaker Wang Shu-huei flung a shoe at the speaker, but it struck the face of a lawmaker next to him.
Another legislator threw the shoe back at Wang Shu-huei and ripped up a DPP political placard. Earlier, a DPP lawmaker grabbed a Nationalist by the jacket collar and tried to push him down against a desk, while dozens of legislators pushed and shoved in the background.
Taiwan's Legislature has a reputation for violent incidents ever since the dismantling of martial law in 1987.
Friday's brawls followed a motion by the opposition _ which holds a slim majority at the 219-seat Legislature _ asking for the Central Election Commission to be selected according to the parties' electoral strength.
At present, members of the commission are nominated by the government and approved by the president.
The opposition called the commission's impartiality into question amid months of legal wrangling following President Chen Shui-bian's narrow victory in the 2004 presidential election.
posted by Mockingbird at
9:56 AM
24 Comments:
Those MPs are not the real elites. Some of them are associated with underworld secret society. The Parliament do not conduct checks and restrictions on criteria to be an MP. As long as they have money, they can "buy" a seat in the Parliament. On conclusion, those MPs are just gangsters and uncivilised hooligans.
Democracy was it is. What for to be democracy where the Parliament behaved like a fighting place? Amusing.
We have Chen Shui Bian who was shot during the President Election (world's first incident) and DPP party playing cheats (forged votes) during Gao Shung mayor election. Amusing.
Their politics are so messy. How to be survive if Taiwan is an independent nation? I suggest they better reunite with China and self-government.
Correction - "Democracy as it is".
i believe Taiwan will be united with China eventually. And i believe blood will be shed one way or another. Taiwan's parliament could very well be the only one in the world where the viewers can derive some warped amusement and entertaiment.
I'm really appalled and embarrassed watching those Taiwanese parliamentarians fighting in Parliament proceedings since years ago.
Just wondering if they ever feel ashamed knowing the world is watching...they truly behave like low-down pariahs!..what they need is a law to lock these hot-headed pariahs in steel cages.
To Joepsc: i doubt they are ashamed of their barbaric behavior in parliament. The reason why they persist in their blatant display of hooligan behavior, is probably because they know no shame.
To Joepsc: Perhaps their motto is: Nevermind the shame, it's more important that i give u piece of my mind, fist, foot, shoe, etc. now than to control my rage and prevent it from bursting out.
It´s just plain mockery, tsk tsk.
As I say, they are gangsters who used money to buy a seat in the Parliament. Many of them are not qualified MPs.
Taiwan cannot survive as an independent nation. Those people who are pro-independent, please stabilise their Parliament first before declaring Taiwan an official nation.
To Old Beng: Taiwanese parliamentarians making a mockery of their system sure does provide entertainment for the world to see, doesn't it?
To Lao Xing Zhou: i don't think Taiwan would die as an independent nation. Afterall, they have been doing exactly just that as a renegade province for so many decades.
If Taiwan becomes an indepent nation, it needs to join UN. On the other words, Taiwan, as a developed country, need to donate large sums to poor countries in Africa.
Taiwan's economy did not perform well and slumped down under the poor leadership of Chen Shui Bian.
To Lao Xing Zhou: One thing's for sure. If Taiwan ever dares to declare independence, China will surely launch an all-out military attack and invasion against it. It would definitely turn out very ugly.
Y sg MP don't fight??? Boring..
If Singapore MPs fight, would that be a big mockery of Singapore? Since they are elites, they can't fight like those low class street gangsters.
To Michael:
China and Taiwan war will involve Japan, USA, Russia, North and South Korea. In other words, it will be another Korea War 2 or North-East Asia war. For sure, Singapore's economy will takes a bad hit as both of our main economy supporter (China and USA) are at war.
To Horny Bitch: Our gahmen is helmed by elites who will behave properly in parliament, hence no gangster behavior like those in Taiwan.
To Lao Xing Zhou: Asia will surely plunge into chaos if China decides to whack the crap outta Taiwan.
Southeast Asia will remain peaceful but the economy of SEA will hit the lowest point due to war in Northeast Asia.
To Lao Xing Zhou: A very insightful comment coming from a 17-year-old. Keep up the good work :)
Hahaha....
Still much more to learn from adults and books. ^_^
taiwan has the best parliament ever! i think the south korean parliament can equal it too!
haha! nice collection of videos there. haha!
To Lao Xing Zhou: There are many clueless and apolitical adults who need to learn from you :)
To Mark: Right you are Mark! :)
To Juz_a_gal: Glad u enjoyed them :)
The ROC is an independent nation. It's not donating money to African countries that prevents it from joining the UN (neither is entry into the UN required to be a recognised country theoretically). It's pressure from the PRC.
The PRC would be hesitant to launch an all-out attack - things would probably get very tense, and maybe there might be a war. But it's not for sure, given that US military presence provides a strong deterrent.
Ever since Kuwait, most countries have learned that you can't just go invade other countries.
Well, unless you're the United States yourself, that is.
Anyway, Parliament fight more exciting than filibuster fight right?
Over here in the US Senate, there are no time limits on how long a Senator who has floor has to speak, so as long as he or she talks about something tangentially related to the subject, he or she can continue for 12-24 hours at a stretch, delaying a bill from being passed. Then senator passes the floor to other colleagues one, so a minority of senators can delay legislation if they're determined enough. Very boring one.
Sometimes they end up reading telephone books. How is that related to the bill? Well, an argument could go: "You can't pass this bill, because it would affect ... [100,000 names ensue]".
At least Parliament brawl faster and got more adrenaline one. ;-)
"The Parliament do not conduct checks and restrictions on criteria to be an MP. As long as they have money, they can "buy" a seat in the Parliament. On conclusion, those MPs are just gangsters and uncivilised hooligans."
I would support a measure like impeaching an MP based on "high crimes misdimeanors", but I don't think there should be restrictions on criteria.
For example, a felon here ran for representative for our state to the U.S. House of Representatives. He didn't win, but he received a lot of sympathy from the public. Why? Because he argued that his imprisonment was unjust - e.g. law enforcement needed reform - and his personal experience inspired him to run.
What happened is that he was a hunter, and he was discharging ammo into his woodpile outdoors (because, that's the same thing to do - better than letting it rest in the shotgun). But his neighbours, who had moved in from the city, were unused to guns and called in the police. The police shot him on sight - in his house - despite the fact that he did not use his shotgun to threaten them in any way. He was arrested and charged with a felony, depriving him of the right to arms (his livelihood), while the courts refused to hear a corruption suit over the police officers' behaviour because that was the police department's jurisdiction.
Exceptions like these show why just because you have a criminal record doesn't mean you should be prevented from becoming an MP.
To John Soong: Thank you for your long, insightful comment. i guess Taiwan's parliament could well be the only one in the world where you won't doze off watching :)
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