The opposition has the majority in Taiwan’s new parliament and wants to use it to reform parliamentary procedures. Is this undermining democracy? The protests in Taipei are loud and numerous.
In the Taiwanese capital Taipei, thousands of people gathered for a demonstration on Tuesday evening to protest against a planned parliamentary reform that the two opposition parties KMT and TPP want to push through together. Observers speak of the largest demonstration in Taiwan in ten years.
The demonstrators are close to the ruling DPP party of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who was sworn in on Monday. They warn of the threat of an erosion of democracy by the KMT and TPP.
The demonstrators criticized the fact that the two opposition parties have been trying for several days to jointly push through procedural reforms in the Taiwanese parliament at a rapid pace – without major discussions and debates.
One reform is planned which, according to the demonstrators, would significantly restrict the possibilities for free speech in parliament. The two opposition parties also want to reduce the powers of the new president.
The focus is also on Beijing
In reference to the acceleration of procedures planned by the KMT and TPP, numerous demonstrators chanted the battle cry “No debate? Then end the parliamentary session!” The slogan was also written on numerous posters that people had brought with them.
An accusation made by many demonstrators is that the two opposition parties are secretly working with the Chinese state and party leadership to weaken Taiwan’s democracy.
“If things are not transparent in parliament, then it kills democracy,” was the slogan on a poster by two students from Taipei.
Not so many people have taken to the streets in Taiwan for years – opponents of the law demonstrated in Taipei on Tuesday evening.
Limited power
President Lai Ching-te’s DPP is the strongest party in Taiwan’s parliament – but it narrowly missed an absolute parliamentary majority in the election in January. If the China-friendly KMT and the opposition populist TPP join forces, they can together overrule President Lai’s DPP.
“KMT and TPP just want to push through several laws in a few minutes, that’s absurd,” says a protester who introduces himself as John. “That’s why we’re doing the same thing here now as we did ten years ago!”
What the 35-year-old demonstrator is referring to are the protests of the so-called Sunflower Movement ten years ago. In the spring of 2014, hundreds of people occupied the parliament building in Taipei to protest against the KMT’s policies. Many of the demonstrators had sunflowers with them at the time.
In the 2016 election following the Sunflower Movement, the KMT was voted out and has been in the opposition ever since.
Reasonable suspicion – or scaremongering?
Today, supporters of the China-critical new President Lai are accusing the KMT of weakening Taiwan’s democracy with the proposed parliamentary reforms – and doing so deliberately in order to subtly want to help the communist leadership in Beijing. Both parties reject this and accuse the DPP of scaremongering.
According to Nick Marro from the Economist Intelligence Unit in Hong Kong, it is not yet clear how the protests will develop. There are parallels with the Sunflower Movement in 2014, says the analyst who specializes in Asia, with some DPP supporters singing the protest songs from back then. “However, given the security precautions at Parliament, it is unlikely that the demonstrators will storm the building again,” emphasizes Marro.
With the protests, the DPP is trying to distinguish itself as a champion of clean and transparent governance in Taiwan.