New Delhi: How desperate can politicians get to try and get their point across?
Beyond a normal person’s imagination, it seems.
Just see what happened in the Taiwan Parliament on Friday.
Amid chaos following a bitter dispute over a controversial reform bill, a Member of Parliament (MP) snatched the bill documents and made a dramatic dash in an effort to prevent it from being passed, a viral video shows.
🇹🇼 LMAO: A member of Taiwan’s parliament stole a bill “with the speed of an American football player” to prevent it from being passed.
-> That should just be an official process in any democracy. Love it … haha pic.twitter.com/0C4T4DbbSU
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) May 17, 2024
It all happened three days before President-elect Lai Ching-te is set to take office. He won the election even though his party — Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — does not have a majority in legislature, Reuters reported.
Primary opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) has more seats than DPP, but not enough to control Parliament. Hence, they have teamed up with smaller parties like Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to push for common goals.
The Opposition wants to hand Parliament more power to check the government’s actions, including a controversial plan to punish officials who lie in Parliament which was taken up on Friday.
Before voting could take place, some lawmakers screamed and shoved each other outside the legislative chamber. Some lawmakers rushed to the Speaker’s chair, jumped onto tables and pinned down colleagues to the floor.
More scuffles followed, leading to one lawmaker falling off a platform and injuring his head, reported Khaleej Times. He had to be hospitalised.
But the most hilarious moment came when Guo Guowen, an Opposition MP, tried to flee with the bill.
