Member of Taiwan’s parliament steals bill to prevent its passage

Lawmakers in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan were thrown into chaos this week, with members tackled and punched after trying to steal a bill to prevent its passage.

Deputies were seen jumping over tables and dragging other colleagues to the floor. Reuters reported.

The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is working with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to counter the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which recently elected a new president but lost control of parliament.

The new president, Kiyotoku Lai, won an election in January and is scheduled to take office on Monday.

The country’s Democratic Party, the Democratic Progressive Party, claims these groups are trying to unfairly push through certain proposals without going through the customary consultation process.

Lawmakers from all political parties took part in the fighting this week. They traded accusations over what happened and who was to blame, Reuters reported.

Lai, a Harvard University graduate and member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said this election is critical because voters could choose between war or peace with China.