Taiwan’s Animal House would be merely farcical if the country’s emerging democracy were not at stake. The reforms escalated three years ago under President Lee Tenghui, who is the first Taiwanese-born leader since 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek’s forces shifted their mainland government to the island. Martial law was lifted in 1987, and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party was legalized in 1989. In December of that year the insurgents won 21 of the legislature’s contested 283 seats. They hope to capture an outright majority in 1992, after deputies elected in mainland China will be forced to retire. Lee promises to decentralize the government and revamp the Constitution. But he wants to enact the reforms before his Kuomintang cohorts cede dominance. The opposition is filibustering - and fighting - to block any reform until both the National Assembly, which amends the Constitution, and the legislature, which enacts laws, are run by directly elected majorities.
The opposition’s tactics have not exactly encouraged consensus-building. Rumbling assemblymen flipped tables and smashed china during a luncheon toast by President Lee. When the highest court judge tried to swear in new Kuomintang legislators, opposition thugs pinned him to the wall. (The judge ultimately won the point: he had prerecorded the formalities.) Some attacks have been brutal. One elderly legislator collapsed and died from heart failure during a riot. Another melee ended after 98 people, including 62 police officers, had been injured. “Sometimes I feel ashamed,” said Lin Cheng-chieh of the Democratic Progressives. “But I can’t help it. We have no choice. We have to make our point somehow.”
Wiser heads concede that violence makes bad politics. A new poll shows that voters are unhappy with both parties. Some fear that the newcomers have given democracy a black eye, while hard-liners view the shenanigans as proof of the perils of pluralism. At best Taiwan faces a prolonged legislative gridlock. In order for the government to make good on a pledge to restore full constitutional rule this year, the legislature must amend 140 laws. Hardly likely. The 1990 session passed only 12 new laws - and had to pay $16,000 to replace ripped-out microphones and shattered chairs.
