Why Taiwan's Parliament Members Can't Stop Attacking Each Other

Lawmakers in ironed suits and kitten-heel shoes tackle one another to the ground in the center of Taiwan's parliament building. Men hurl chairs toward one another. Women pull hair. Elected officials scream and shout as they violently, forcibly prevent any legislation from being passed.

And that's exactly what they want.

The minority opposition party in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, otherwise known as parliament, has an interesting, albeit not entirely unique, way of having its voice heard: by beating down politicians attempting to approve legislation it does not agree with. The opposition KMT legislators will purposefully cause chaos and disorder in an effort to prevent—or at least delay—a bill's passage through government. The pandemonium captures global audiences each time.

The ruling DPP party was attempting to pass a $29 billion infrastructure spending bill Thursday when all hell suddenly broke loose, the BBC reported. The costly legislation is seen as a critical component to the DPP's agenda of supporting Taiwan's metropolises and urban populations (which typically support the ruling party) and taking power away from the KMT.

So, as is typical in Taiwan's democracy, members of the 113-seat parliament clashed, as KMT lawmakers shut down speakers and dragged their colleagues to the ground. Their battle to obstruct the legislation is arbitrary: The bill will eventually be passed through the Legislative Yuan one way or another, so long as it receives a majority of support from elected officials.

But the optics of minority leaders fighting tooth and nail for their constituents is the true reason these violent episodes make their way into timelines across the globe. Legislators want to show supporters they are the champions in government, even if their methods aren't exactly productive in passing bipartisan reforms.

"The legislators are partly acting—trying to show their constituents they're working hard to fight for their cause," a journalist who covers the Taiwanese government told BBC. "The fights only allow the people to see the surface, not real issues. People often don't even understand the bills."

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan isn't the only form of parliament that has seen fisticuffs. Governments in Venezuela, Ukraine and Georgia have all engaged in violence on the floors of parliament, producing viral videos and GIF-worthy moments that live on long after controversial legislation is passed.