09.16.05
The return of the silly season
In England, the ‘Silly Season’ is when Parliament is in recess, and so the newspapers need to look for silly stories to replace the normal discussion of political issues. In Taiwan, it starts when the Legislative session starts - because the legislators specialise in silly behaviour.
Thus, it was no real surprise that the first day of the latest session was punctuated by scuffles and water fights. The main item on the agenda, a policy report by Premier Frank Hsieh, didn’t happen because opposition legislators blocked the podium, and one enterprising individual even managed to rip up his speech.
One female KMT lawmaker splashed tea on the sleeves of Foreign Minister Mark Chen’s (陳唐山) suit, as scuffles broke out through the morning.
Unhappy that KMT lawmakers blocked the podium where the premier was scheduled to speak, DPP lawmakers decided to occupy the seat of the legislative speaker and rip up the KMT’s placards in one of the day’s more chaotic episodes.
The KMT lawmakers said they prevented the premier from speaking to draw attention to questionable measures and suspicions of impropriety emerging from recent controversies.
Those of you who despair of the behaviour of their democratically elected representatives will be relieved to know that most of them will be out of a job in under 3 years time when the number of legislators is halved (3 cheers for constitutional reform!).
In the meantime, I’m guessing the KMT will continue to come out on top in these fights: after all, when you’ve got an Olympic Taekwondo medal winner (Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄) - Silver medal in Athens) in your team, the odds are stacked in your favour. (There’s plenty more political analysis over at Wandering to Tamshui)
Update: I don’t know quite how it happened, but a BBC article on G.W. Bush’s bathroom habits linked to this article. I guess anyone interested in presidential bowel movements would probably quite enjoy Taiwanese politics, so feel free to stick around if that’s where you’ve come from!
Taiwan's Other Side said,
September 16, 2005 at 1:05 pm
I can find nothing that justifies physical violence of any kind. Their actions reflect terribly on the public face of Taiwan and show exactly how much free speech and dissent they are willing to tolerate. Doctor DPP, heal thyself. Other commentary atJu Ju Flop
AsiaPundit said,
September 19, 2005 at 9:25 am
while holding an umbrella and punching in email on a cellphone as they navigate a snow-bound Japanese road constricted down to a single lane because of snow banks and illegally parked cars. The Fight Club (aka Parliament) has started again in Taiwan.Jujuflop and Taiwan’s Other Side take a look, from the former: [IMG Foodfight]In England, the ‘Silly Season’ is when Parliament is in recess, and so the newspapers need to look for silly stories to replace the normal discussion of political issues
One whole jujuflop situation » Legislative chaos continues said,
September 19, 2005 at 5:55 pm
[...] The problem seems to be that the pan-Blues in the Legislature just plain don’t like Frank Hsieh, the (pan-Green) premier[*]. Hsieh has been physically blocked from getting to the podium to give his speech - this included the usual farcical fights on the first day, but has since quietened down in to a stalemate where all the legislators are being paid close to half a million NT dollars each a month (over $13,000 USD) to sit around catching up on their reading. [...]
Isabel said,
September 20, 2005 at 7:27 am
I for one, stumbled upon this page through the BBC’s article on Bush. Having lived in Taiwan for 4 years, what you wrote about Taiwanese legislators brought a big smile on my face.
Ah… the good ol’ times
rob said,
September 21, 2005 at 11:19 pm
i dont know anything about taiwan but i have to go potty too
The Squirrels Are Watching said,
June 7, 2006 at 5:49 am
This is in response to the following essembly resolve: “We should support a democratic Taiwan’s independence against a totalitarian China.” I respect what’s Taiwan managed to accomplish through democracy,legislative scuffles aside, and recognize that Taiwan is, de facto, independent (given that Taiwan once claimed to speak for the mainland, you could say that the mainland is independent), but I have to disagree that the US should support a formal independence
Taiwanese Independence - thesquirrelsarewatching.com - The Squirrels Are Watching said,
September 1, 2006 at 6:49 am
[...] This is in response to the following essembly resolve: “We should support a democratic Taiwan’s independence against a totalitarian China.” I respect what’s Taiwan managed to accomplish through democracy, legislative scuffles aside, and recognize that Taiwan is, de facto, independent (given that Taiwan once claimed to speak for the mainland, you could say that the mainland is independent), but I have to disagree that the US should support a formal independence movement. [...]
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