DPP lawmaker taken to hospital after day-long scuffle at Legislature

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was taken to the hospital Friday evening after a day of scuffles between lawmakers of ruling and opposition parties.

Shen and fellow DPP lawmakers tried to force their way up the podium on the Legislature's floor to occupy the speaker's seat, but they fell after being pushed by opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers who were guarding the area during Friday's Legislative Yuan session.

Shen was taken to nearby National Taiwan University Hospital, and no further details about his condition were available.

The incident took place around 7 p.m., and Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT announced a recess, on a chaotic day when the opposition KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) tried to push to pass legislative reform bills the two parties proposed.

The KMT holds 52 seats in the 113-seat Legislature, the TPP has eight, while the DPP has 51. There are also two independent lawmakers who are ideologically aligned with the KMT in the Legislature, which was sworn in on Feb. 1.

The DPP had had a comfortable majority in the body for the previous eight years.

Update

● Article by article review of reform bills halted until May 21

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