Books, Ashtrays Fly as Taiwan Legislators Brawl Over Reform

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Speaker of Taiwan’s Parliament was slapped and knocked to the floor Friday as the legislature ended a violent week with a brawl that put one opposition deputy in a hospital.

This week has been one of the most chaotic in memory for the Parliament as members of the small opposition Democratic Progressive Party protested plans by the ruling Nationalist Party for democratic reforms.

At least 50 police officers were called into the chamber as furious opposition deputies hurled ashtrays, books and shoes at Speaker Liang Su-yung, 71, who shouted that the violence was “a death sentence for democratic politics in Taiwan.”

After almost two hours of uninterrupted fighting, the session adjourned early.

The National Assembly opened a two-week session Monday to launch the Nationalists’ package of democratic constitutional reforms.

The Nationalists, who have ruled Taiwan since they lost China to the Communists in 1949, say the reforms will increase democracy by replacing most of the old deputies, elected on the mainland and still dominating the assembly, with representatives elected in Taiwan.

The Democratic Progressive Party says the reforms advocated by the Nationalist Party do not go nearly far enough and has threatened to stage mass public protests next week.