Taiwan Lawmakers Clash In Parliament Over Controversial ‘Democracy-Damaging’ Bills

Taiwanese lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party overnight occupied the parliamentary podium and used chairs to barricade entrances to block three proposed amendments, arguing that they would limit the right of voters to remove elected officials deemed unfit for their positions.

DP supporters held KMT and TPP- allied lawmakers responsible for this alleged “parliamentary dictatorship.” The ruling party described how a “Taiwan with KMT’s forcible pushing of the amendments into becoming a law. Taiwan’s system that enjoys independence has fallen completely away since there will be an omission for not self-checking democratic legitimacy due to the absence of mechanism that self-repair flaws and defects.” That can likewise do “irreversible harm to Taiwan’s civic society and democratic framework when it is being torn in violation and damage amid that crisis.”

Perhaps most contentious was a revision to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, which increases the threshold for recalling officials. The KMT insists it would prevent recall abuse, but some DPP lawmakers worry that it erodes voters’ rights. The debate comes after 2020’s recall of KMT parliament speaker and former Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu.

Outside the parliament, thousands of demonstrators protested the proposed amendments, shouting slogans like “return the evil amendments” and “Defend Taiwan.” Graduate student David Chen told AFP, “I am here to protest the opposition parties for trying to confiscate the people’s rights to recall.”

Opposition-led reform bills to expand parliamentary powers, passed earlier this year, triggered physical clashes in the legislature and huge street protests. While the pro-reform side argues that the changes are necessary to fight corruption, critics see them as weakening Taiwan’s democratic strength against China, which claims sovereignty over the island. In October, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court struck down the most contentious aspects of the reforms, handing the DPP a partial victory.