The World's Most Unruly Parliaments

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to admonish Rep. Joe Wilson for yelling "You lie!" during President Obama's recent address to Congress. But in some parts of the world, outbursts like Wilson's would barely raise an eyebrow.

BY JOSHUA KEATING | SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

SOUTH KOREA

JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images

Source of tension: Korean democracy is a full-contact sport in which debates between the dominant Grand National Party (GNP) and its opponents over foreign policy and media freedom are frequently resolved with fists … or whatever heavy object is in the room.

Low points: South Korea’s first internationally noticed punch-up occurred in 2004 over the impeachment of then President Roh Moo-hyun. MPs loyal to Roh attempted to block what they saw as a coup by refusing to leave the assembly’s podium. Scuffles broke out as security tried to remove the unruly delegates, who began throwing punches and tossing furniture. (Meanwhile, an unidentified man crashed a car into the outside of the building.) The offending MPs later got down on their knees to apologize to the nation.

But the Roh impeachment battle was just a prelude to the December 2008 war over a controversial free trade agreement with the United States. After the GNP submitted the bill to a parliamentary committee on trade, attempting to rush it through before Barack Obama took office, opposition MPs attempted to break into the locked committee room with sledgehammers and an electric saw. The terrified lawmakers inside the room barricaded the door with furniture and fought the intruders with fire extinguishers. TV cameras broadcast the images, including one of a MP bleeding profusely from the face, to viewers around the world. A compromise was reached, but only after the opposition occupied the assembly building for 12 days.

The incident apparently didn’t satisfy the blood lust of Korean lawmakers, though. A debate over media privatization in July devolved into an all-out fistfight.

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Joshua Keating is deputy Web editor at FP.

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GRANT

8:07 PM ET

September 15, 2009

I'm actually glad I live in

I'm actually glad I live in the States. I knew about Taiwan's standards. but this is ridiculous.

 

OCHIENG100

5:59 AM ET

September 16, 2009

Hey, the list is short of

Hey, the list is short of real dramatic, action packed parliaments like somali and kenya, I guess other people would also be able to testify of their parliaments behaving not onyl rudely but in unappropriate.

 

MOHAIR.SAM

1:40 PM ET

September 17, 2009

Fun article

Provides some needed perspective for us Americans, especially. The conduct of democratic republics, like that of their parliamentary counterparts, can be a very messy business.

 

SEILI0810

5:19 AM ET

September 18, 2009

Perspective? Glad the way the US is going?

Mohair.Sam: Perspective would be understanding the historic context and in realizing that these are very young democracies. In the case of South Korea, you can count the number of legitimately elected presidents on one hand. That's only a couple decades if you're counting.

Is that really the standard we want to hold the US to? The US whose citizens pride their country as a beacon and leader of democracy. Do you really think the accounts in this article excuses Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst?

Let's have a little perspective here.

 

SEILI0810

5:20 AM ET

September 18, 2009

Perspective? Glad the way the US is going?

Mohair.Sam: Perspective would be understanding the historic context and in realizing that these are very young democracies. In the case of South Korea, you can count the number of legitimately elected presidents on one hand. That's only a couple decades if you're counting.

Is that really the standard we want to hold the US to? The US whose citizens pride their country as a beacon and leader of democracy. Do you really think the accounts in this article excuses Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst?

Let's have a little perspective here.