Taiwan's parliament erupted into chaos on Friday as lawmakers physically fought over proposed reforms to the chamber, just days before President-elect Lai Ching-te takes office.
The dispute saw lawmakers shoving, tackling, and hitting each other, both outside and inside the legislative chamber. The clashes began before votes were cast and continued into the afternoon, with politicians from all three main parties involved.
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The proposed reforms aim to give parliament greater scrutiny powers over the government, including a controversial plan to criminalise officials who make false statements in parliament. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accuses the opposition of trying to force through the proposals without proper consultation.
Wang Mei-hui, a DPP lawmaker representing the southern city of Chiayi, told Reuters: “Why are we opposed? We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country.”
The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has more seats than the DPP but not enough to form a majority on its own, so it has been working with the small Taiwan People's Party (TPP) to promote their mutual ideas. The DPP claims this is an "unconstitutional abuse of power".
The is not the first time tensions have boiled over in Taiwan's parliament. In 2020, KMT lawmakers threw pig guts on the chamber floor in a dispute over US pork imports.
