The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should take all 52 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to court if they have the guts, KMT caucus Whip Fu Kun-chi said yesterday in response to the DPP’s saying that it would pursue legal actions over what it called the KMT’s “atrocities” on Friday.
Massive brawls broke out on Friday and continued throughout the day in the main chamber of the Legislative Yuan as DPP legislators tried to prevent the passing of legislative reform bills.
The Taiwanese public saw the “darkest day” in the history of the nation’s parliament, Fu said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Aside from the physical altercations, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) was a “forced captive” in the resting chambers as a result of the DPP’s “thuggish” behavior, Fu said, adding that the DPP at the time also threatened to only let Han leave if he would announce recesses and not allow legislative proceedings for items on Friday’s agenda.
It is unfortunate that president-elect William Lai (賴清德) failed to criticize the violent acts of his own party’s legislators, Fu added, citing nine major incidents of violence that he said DPP legislators had committed against KMT legislators. The DPP had also broken public facilities, assaulted the 72-year-old Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Chester Chou (周萬來) and threatened legislatorial staff, he said.
KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) was attacked and had a bruised ribcage, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) had a bruised hand and female KMT Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) was tackled by male DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) and also sustained bruises, Fu said.
Chen said she was unable to stop Chung from clambering up onto the speaker’s podium on Friday and that Chung tackling her could be considered an act of violence, harassment or even an intent to commit murder.
Chen urged DPP legislators to support her in criticizing Chung’s actions and ensuring gender equality in the legislature.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday criticized the DPP’s violence, stating that he believed the public could not accept the DPP’s blatant attack on police officers and legislators who were doing their jobs.
Chu urged Lai not to succumb to arrogance and indulge his party’s lawmakers in creating a scene when the party is in power, adding that he hoped that Taiwan would have a democratic and progressive society and not a community rife with violence from “so-called democratic supporters.”
Additional reporting by Huang Shu-li
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