On May 24th, the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China continued to process legislation related to parliamentary reform. The bill has been criticized by the public as a legislation to expand the powers of the parliament. Civil groups across Taiwan initiated a “Contempt for Parliament” rally to protest.
Inside the Legislative Yuan on the 24th, there were intense debates between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Kuomintang, and the Taiwan People’s Party.
Outside the venue, more than 60 civil groups including the Taiwan Citizen Front and the Economic Democracy Union launched the “Contempt for Parliament” action, demanding a halt to the voting and for the bill to be sent back to the committee for reexamination.
According to organizers, by 3:30 pm, there were already 20,000 people gathered at the scene. By 5:30 pm, it was reported that the number of people on site had exceeded 30,000.
Many people braved the rain early in the morning and flooded into Qingdao East Road, holding banners with slogans such as “Against secret deals, demand democracy”, “No discussion, no democracy”, “Reject secret deals, uphold democracy” to express their demands.
At 1 pm, there were also protests by a significant number of people at the Deer Street in Taichung Railway Station, calling for the bill to be sent back to the committee for reexamination.
They expressed concerns and dissatisfaction with the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party for passing the parliamentary reform bill through second and third readings without discussion, urging the public to “if we don’t stand up today, we won’t be able to stand up tomorrow”, and “Taiwan must not turn into Hong Kong gradually, losing democracy and freedom”.
After 3 pm, rain began to fall from the sky. However, the protesting crowd at the scene did not disperse. Everyone held up umbrellas, and the singing and applause continued warmly.
At 11 am on the 24th, nearly a hundred people came to protest at the Nanjing Road Plaza in Taitung. The protesters held signs saying “I despise a parliament without discussion and democracy”, “No discussion, no democracy”, “Secret deals in parliament, democracy killer”, “Against false reform and real power expansion”. There were also foreigners present at the scene.
In addition, based on the rally plan released by civil groups on the 23rd, at 2 pm on the 24th, there would be a protest at the Taiwan Literature Museum in Tainan. Starting from 6 pm in the evening, there would be protests by the public at the front square of Taichung Changhua Railway Station, Chiayi Cultural Park, from 7 pm at Kaohsiung Central Park.