Legislators in Taiwan have physically clashed over proposed changes to a law that would make it harder for elected officials to be recalled.
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00:00Physical clashes among legislators over proposed changes to a law to make it harder for elected
00:09officials to be recalled.
00:11The legislature's Internal Affairs Committee was supposed to discuss the amendments, introduced
00:16by the main opposition Kuomintang party.
00:18But instead, chaos broke out as some members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party
00:23protested against the changes, and a break was quickly called.
00:26If you don't want to vote for the party, you have to think about the budget.
00:31Xu Yuzheng's version has the so-called highest and most difficult eviction threshold in history.
00:36The amendments would change the rules to mean an official could only be taken out of office
00:40if the number of votes in favor of their recall exceeds the number of votes they originally
00:44got to be elected, among other changes.
00:47Some DPP officials have said these changes are unconstitutional because they make it
00:51too hard to recall an official, taking power away from voters.
00:55They've also accused the KMT of proposing the changes because they're afraid their own
00:59officials are at risk of being recalled.
01:02But KMT officials argue it's currently too easy to recall an official.
01:06They had hoped the amendments would be reviewed.
01:18The clashes come a little over a month after a vote on whether to remove the Kuomintang
01:22mayor of Keelung, George Hsieh, from office.
01:25Nearly 70,000 people voted for Hsieh's ouster, but he ultimately stayed on.
01:30Whether recall rules will change remains to be seen, but it's clear this issue has divided
01:35politicians.
01:37Ryan Wu and Keynes Kuranta for Taiwan Plus.