Taiwan’s opposition party occupies parliament again to protest president’s aide nomination

The main opposition party in Taiwan again occupied parliament on Tuesday, after fighting with ruling party lawmakers to get into the building. The opposition MPs protested against the nomination of a close aide to the president to a top-level watchdog.

Last month, fights erupted inside the chamber after lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) broke through barricades erected by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) who had occupied it to protest against government “tyranny.”

The KMT has described President Tsai Ing-wen’s nomination of her senior aide Chen Chu to head the Control Yuan, an independent government watchdog, as “political cronyism.”

Kuomintang was trounced in January’s parliamentary and presidential elections, having failed to shake off accusations they were too pro-China, Reuters said. The party traditionally favors close ties with China.