TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) legislator expressed concerns on Friday (Dec. 20), stating that the amendments introduced by the Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) would irreversibly damage Taiwan's democratic framework. Legislators from the DPP, the minority party in the parliament, occupied the Legislative Yuan (立法院) on Thursday night to prevent the KMT and TPP from passing amendments they claim threaten Taiwan's democracy.
The occupation anticipates Friday's session, which plans to address proposed changes to the "Civil Servants Election and Recall Act" (公職人員選舉罷免法), the "Constitutional Court Procedure Act" (憲法訴訟法), and the "Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures" (財政收支劃分法). DPP Legislator Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) argued that the amendment to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act will paralyze the Constitution, and the amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures will destroy fiscal discipline if passed.
Wu further criticized the lack of substantial cross-party consultation before these amendments were scheduled for the legislative session, asserting the DPP's need to act to protect Taiwan's democracy. Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) engaged in heated debates with DPP members, condemning their actions of breaking windows and entering the chamber. DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) attempted several times to seize Chen's microphone and loudspeaker, although no violent confrontation occurred.