Debate Over Bill Turns Violent as Lawmakers Brawl and Barricade the Door to Prevent Vote on New Election Laws in Taiwan

A debate over a bill turned violent after lawmakers began fighting and barricaded the door in order to prevent a vote on new election laws in Taiwan.

Video captured of the brawl shows several lawmakers stacking chairs to block off entrances to prevent their fellow lawmakers from leaving. Other clips showed dozens of lawmakers pushing and shoving each other as some tried to take the chairs down, and others battled against them doing so.

Dozens can be heard shouting, and multiple lawmakers even began throwing water on people trying to break down the barricades.

The barricades were created in response to three amendments proposed by by Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) party. If passed, elected officials later deemed unfit would be harder to remove, as reported by AFP.

"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," Lai's Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement obtained by Sky News.

The brawl ended up delaying the legislative session by an hour and half on Friday. While some KMT lawmakers had camped there Thursday night, several Democratic aides also staged a sit-in the night before to prevent opposing lawmakers from getting in, as reported by Focus Taiwan.

Although some injuries were reported, the number or types of injuries have not yet been confirmed.

One KMT lawmaker referred to the Democratic lawmakers' actions as "break-in by thieves," as reported by Sky News.

Meanwhile, protests against the bills could also be seen outside the parliament building, with thousands yelling phrases such as "return the evil amendments," as reported by AFP.

Originally published by Latin Times.