The parliaments of the world are normally models of decorum. They almost always exhibit appropriate behavior, not even attacking another member’s motives, let alone his body physically. But sometimes things erupt in a brawl, and the normally staid politicians engage in a knock-down, drag-out fight.
Here are eight images that capture the world’s most respectable politicians engaged in some riotous behavior.
1. Ukranian Uproars
Top photo: Members of Parliament of the Svoboda party fight with Members of Parliament of the Communist party in the Ukrainian Parliament on April 8, 2014, during the debates focused on a law toughening responsibility for separatism. Ukraine's acting president said that day that he would treat Russian separatists who have seized buildings in the east of the country as “terrorists” who will be prosecuted with the full force of the law.
Bottom photo: Members of Parliament scuffle over voting rules during the first session of the newly-elected Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev on Dec. 13, 2012. A session of Ukraine's new Parliament collapsed into chaos when brawls erupted among opposition deputies and those of the ruling party over the election of parliamentary officials.
2. South Korean Scraps
Top photo: Main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Ki-jung, center, struggles with the ruling Grand National Party's lawmakers after media reform bills were passed at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on July 22, 2009. Hundreds of competing lawmakers screamed and wrestled in South Korea's Parliament on that day as rivalry over contentious media reform bills descended into a brawl that sent at least one to a hospital.
Bottom photo: Lee Jung-hee, center, a lawmaker of the opposition Democratic Labor Party, is dragged out by the ruling Grand National Party's lawmakers on the same day.
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3. Sri Lankan Sparring Match
Kolonnawe Siri Sumangala, a member of the Sri Lankan Parliament and The National Heritage Party, the country's first party led by Buddhist clergy, receives treatment as party leaders Ellawala Medhanada, second left, Udawatte Nada, second right, and Uduwe Dhammaloka, right, stand by his bedside at the Sri Jayawardnapura Hospital near Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 8, 2004. Two Buddhist monk legislators including Sumangala were hospitalized after they were beaten up by government legislators in an unprecedented brawl in Sri Lanka's Parliament, officials and witnesses said.
4. Taiwanese Tussles
Top photo: Legislators from the ruling Kuomintang and opposition Democratic Progressive Party scuffle during a review session of the service and trade agreements with China at the Parliament in Taipei on March 17, 2014. Opposition has arisen against a deal between China and Taiwan aimed at further opening trade services between the two rivals. The pact is one of the followup agreements to a sweeping Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010 to reduce trade barriers between China and Taiwan.
Bottom photo: Taiwanese lawmakers throw punches and pour water on each other on Aug. 2, 2013, in Taipei, Taiwan, ahead of voting on whether to hold a referendum on building the controversial No. 4 nuclear power plant. President Ma Ying-jeou said Taiwan needed the fourth nuclear power plant to solve a power shortage, but environmentalists opposed its construction out of safety concerns.
5. A Thailand Tiff
Members of the opposition Democrat party are surrounded by Parliament police officers at the Parliament in Bangkok on Aug. 20, 2013. Thailand's Parliament briefly descended into chaos on that day as opposition lawmakers brawled with police during a debate on controversial proposals to amend the constitution.
6. Turkish Tumults
Top Photo: Members of Parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) scuffle during a debate at a parliamentary session in Ankara, Turkey, on Jan. 23, 2014. CHP deputy Bulent Tezcan received punches to his face three times as AK Party deputy Oktay Saral attacked him after a brawl on the graft investigation broke out. A CHP deputy was taken to hospital.
Bottom Photo: Member of Parliament from CHP Ali Ihsan Kokturk, center, suffers a bloodied and broken nose following a brawl during a debate on a draft law which will affect the system of the appointment of judges and prosecutors, at a parliamentary session in Ankara, Turkey, on Feb. 15, 2014.
7. Macedonian Melee
Top photo: Macedonian deputies and members of opposition Social-Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM) clash with Parliament security as they try to protect Parliament speaker Trajko Veljanovski in Skopje on Dec. 24, 2012. Government and opposition deputies brawled and their supporters hurled stones and bottles at each other outside in an escalating dispute over the proposed 2013 state budget. Thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators clashed in the center of the capital Skopje outside Parliament. Special police in riot gear intervened to separate the two groups, and local media said at least six people were hurt.
Bottom photo: Macedonian deputies and members of SDSM rescue fellow party member Vesna Bendevska during the clash.
8. Venezuelan Violence
Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Julio Borges of the Primero Justicia party arrives at a news conference with a bruised and bloodied face after a fight broke out at a session of the National Assembly in Caracas on April 30, 2013. Fistfights left a number of legislators bloodied and injured during an angry session linked to the South American nation's bitter election dispute. The opposition said seven of its parliamentarians were attacked and hurt when protesting against a measure to block them from speaking in the National Assembly over their refusal to recognize President Nicolas Maduro's victory in the April 14 election.
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