ADVERTISEMENTA strong character is a definite plus when it comes to being a member of parliament in order to fight the corner of the people represented there.
It’s also handy sometimes to be able to pack a powerful punch, as the most heated debates occasionally end up in fisticuffs. And its these moments that provide the highlights on Parliament television, which to be quite frank can prove dull viewing at times.
In Ukraine, parliament punch-ups seem almost like an annual event or rite of passage. MPs in Taiwan and South Korea are also seen regularly coming to blows..
The fights you are going to see are take place from December 2012 until today…and there more and more “good” fights the previous years.
01 August 2013 – Taiwan
Taiwanese lawmakers exchange punches and throw water at each other during a parliamentary session in the capital Taipei.
26 June 2013 – Taiwan
One month earlier around 50 Taiwanese lawmakers scuffled again. Ruling Kuomintang party lawmakers occupied the podium to prevent the opposition party from revoking a capital gains tax.
30 April 2013 – Venezuela
Political consensus was evidently in short supply when a fight broke out in Venezuela’s parliament. Punches were thrown when opposition members were denied the right to speak in the National Assembly until they recognised President Maduro’s recent election victory.
19 March 2013 – Ukraine
Another fight in Ukrainian parliament: the session was briefly suspended after fists flew in a row over the use of the Russian language between the president’s party and a far-right opposition faction, threatening to extend a legislative stalemate.
12 December 2012 – Ukraine
The first session of Ukraine’s new parliament saw politicians from opposition and ruling parties fighting and climbing over each other to be able to approach the speaker’s stand.
Then two opposition politicians, suspected of being about to defect to the Government, were pushed from the hall. Father and Son Oleksandr Tabalov and Andrei Tabalov were prevented from taking the MPs’ oath. They were accused of letting down voters. As the session began around 100 people gathered for an anti-fascist demonstration outside the parliament building. Members of the feminist group FEMEN tried to break into parliament to protest about government corruption.