Asian govmt brawls, not for real?

Wow, this explains a lot.

Politician punch-ups in Taiwan are 'staged to make MPs look tough'
By RICHARD SHEARS, in Sydney - More by this author » Last updated at 19:25pm on 17th May 2007

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For years TV networks around the world have broadcast furious brawls from inside the Taiwan parliament, with fists and chairs being thrown and MPs crashing to the ground.

It is almost as good as TV wrestling bouts, but of course, we all know that those sporting events are well rehearsed beforehand. The Taiwanese punch-ups are for real - or so we've all been led to believe.

But it was revealed yesterday that the fights are as fake as those brutal wrestling matches.

Reports from the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, yesterday quoted legislators and political observers as admitting that the televised fights are staged acts, planned in advance to generate media attention and garner favour with voters who like to see their MPs fighting for all their worth on tough issues.

The brawls are so well planned, it is claimed, that MPs have even called up one another to ensure they wear sports shoes ahead of their choreographed clashes. And when it's all over, after the pulled punches have been delivered and the broken chairs removed, they all get together for a merry drink.

Admitting that the fights were a fraud, Nationalist Party legislator Miss Joanna Lei said: 'It's staged for media coverage. They have a strategy sessions, like a war plan.' During the latest televised brawl earlier this month no less than 40 MPs blocked the speaker from his podium to prevent a vote on changing the central Election Commission.

Earlier this year 50 MPs who wanted to stop the speaker from accessing his podium staged a brawl that lasted for an incredible four hours.

A microphone was ripped out and thrown across the chambers and shoes were thrown at the speaker. The speaker never made it to his chair. But sometimes even the most well-rehearsed fight scenes can have their mishaps. In 2005 an MP needed stitches after he was accidentally struck by a mobile phone.

'All they are trying to do is steal the spotlight,' said People First Party MP Lee Hung-chun.

'This shouldn't be happening, of course. Parliament should be a sacred and noble place.'