Taiwan Finally Enacts Measure for Direct Presidential Voting

The Par liament shouted, punched and wrestled its way through a marathon 26-hour session to give final approval Thursday to a law governing the country’s first direct presidential elections.

The presidential elections, scheduled for March, 1996, represent a zenith for democratic reforms in Taiwan that began with the lifting of martial law in 1987 and have also spawned a feisty brand of democracy here. Previously the president was elected by the National Assembly.

Sustained by caffeinated drinks and watermelons, legislators voted 400 times to pass the 107-clause Presidential Election and Recall Law in a landmark for Taiwan’s democratic reforms.

Since the assembly started to review the bill Friday, three legislators were hurt in two major flare-ups in less than 24 hours, while verbal clashes were “countless,” state television said.

A ruling Nationalist Party legislator rushed up to an opposition legislator Tuesday and punched him repeatedly in the face and back as his rival stood to make a speech.

Fists also flew late Monday after a legislator dubbed “Taiwan’s Rambo” lashed out. New Party legislator Ju Gau-jeng leaped on top of the Speaker’s desk and dived onto a group of Nationalist Party legislators.

He was later overwhelmed as several Nationalist legislators landed punches on his face, knocked his glasses off and sent him reeling backward.

“The long . . . hours of review have set the record in Taiwan legislative history,” opposition Democratic Progressive Party legislator Yeh Chu-lan noted.

“The bill’s political significance is second only to the constitution, and we are proud to show our countrymen that it has been successfully completed,” said Liao Fuw-peen, a ruling Nationalist Party deputy.