Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'

Taiwanese lawmakers tackled and doused each other with water on Friday as President Lai Ching-te's party tried to block the passage of bills they say could harm the self-ruled island's "democratic system".

Scores of lawmakers from Lai's Democratic Progressive Party had occupied the podium of the parliament's main chamber since Thursday night and barricaded themselves inside -- piling up chairs to block entrances.

The DPP parliamentarians were attempting to stop three legal amendments proposed by the opposition bloc, which would make it more difficult for voters to oust elected officials who they see as unfit.

"Parliamentary dictatorship," some DPP lawmakers shouted to criticise the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party and its ally Taiwan People's Party (TPP) for trying to pass the bills with their majority.

"If the KMT forcefully passes the amendments... Taiwan's democratic self-checking and self-repairing mechanism will be gone, and it will also cause significant and irreversible damage to Taiwan's civil society and democratic system," the ruling party said in a statement.

"At a time when Taiwan's democracy is being violated and damaged, we must stand up and take action," it added.

Among the disputed bills was a planned revision to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act pressed ahead by the KMT and TPP to raise the threshold for removing elected officials.

The Beijing-friendly KMT said it would prevent the power of recalls from "being abused" but some DPP lawmakers said they fear the move would revoke voters' rights to remove unfit officials.

Han Kuo-yu, the current parliament speaker from the KMT, was ousted in 2020 as mayor of southern Kaohsiung city following a failed presidential bid.

Outside the parliament on Friday, thousands of people gathered to protest the bills, shouting "return the evil amendments", and "Defend Taiwan".

"I am here to protest the opposition parties for trying to confiscate the people's rights to recall," graduate student David Chen told AFP.

Earlier this year, reform bills expanding parliament's powers pushed by the opposition sparked brawls among lawmakers and massive street demonstrations.

Proponents of the expansion say it is needed to curb corruption, but critics fear the laws could weaken Taiwan's democracy against the influence of China -- which claims the island as part of its territory.

In October, Taiwan's Consitutional Court struck out the most controversial sections of the law, delivering a partial victory to the DPP which had opposed the reforms.