The
Legislative Yuan is the unicameral
legislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
of the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(ROC).
The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches (called 'yuàn', "courts") of
governmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
stipulated by the
Constitution of the Republic of ChinaThe Constitution of the Republic of China is the fundamental law of the Republic of China . Drafted by the Kuomintang as part of its third stage of national development , it established a centralized Republic with five branches of government...
, which follows
Sun Yat-senSun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
's
Three Principles of the PeopleThe Three Principles of the People, also translated as Three People's Principles, or collectively San-min Doctrine, is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to make China a free, prosperous, and powerful nation...
. Although sometimes referred to as a "
parliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
", the Legislative Yuan, under Sun's political theory, is a branch of government, while only the
National Assembly of the Republic of ChinaThe National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed...
(now abolished), with the power to amend the constitution and formerly to elect the President and Vice President, could be considered a parliament. However, after constitutional amendments effectively transferring almost all of the National Assembly's powers to the Legislative Yuan in the late 1990s, it has become more common in Taiwanese newspapers to refer to the Legislative Yuan as the "parliament" (國會, guóhuì).
Composition
Starting with the
2008 legislative electionsThe 7th Legislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27...
, drastic changes were made to the Legislative Yuan in accordance with a constitutional amendment passed in 2005. The Legislative Yuan has 113 members, down from 225. Legislators come to office through the following ways:
- 73 are elected under the first-past-the-post
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
system in single-member constituencies.
- 34 are elected under the supplementary member
Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other...
system on a second ballot, based on nationwide votes, and calculated using the largest remainder methodThe largest remainder method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems...
.
- Six seats are elected by aboriginal voters through single non-transferable vote
The single non-transferable vote or SNTV is an electoral system used in multi-member constituency elections.- Voting :In any election, each voter casts one vote for one candidate in a multi-candidate race for multiple offices. Posts are filled by the candidates with the most votes...
in two 3-member constituencies.
Members serve four-year terms.
Composition of the 7th Legislative Yuan (as of February 1, 2008)
{{stack begin}}
{{Chinese|pic=|piccap=|picsize=|title=Legislative Yuan|t=立法院|l=Law-establishing court|p=Lìfǎ Yuàn|j=Laap6 faat3 yun2|w=Lifa Yüan|poj=Li̍p-hoat-īⁿ|collapse=no}}
{{stack end}}
The Legislative Yuan ({{zh|c=立法院|p=Lìfǎ Yuàn|l=law-making court}}) is the unicameral legislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
of the Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(ROC).
The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches (called 'yuàn', "courts") of governmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of ChinaThe Constitution of the Republic of China is the fundamental law of the Republic of China . Drafted by the Kuomintang as part of its third stage of national development , it established a centralized Republic with five branches of government...
, which follows Sun Yat-senSun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
's Three Principles of the PeopleThe Three Principles of the People, also translated as Three People's Principles, or collectively San-min Doctrine, is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to make China a free, prosperous, and powerful nation...
. Although sometimes referred to as a "parliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
", the Legislative Yuan, under Sun's political theory, is a branch of government, while only the National Assembly of the Republic of ChinaThe National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed...
(now abolished), with the power to amend the constitution and formerly to elect the President and Vice President, could be considered a parliament. However, after constitutional amendments effectively transferring almost all of the National Assembly's powers to the Legislative Yuan in the late 1990s, it has become more common in Taiwanese newspapers to refer to the Legislative Yuan as the "parliament" (國會, guóhuì).
Composition
Starting with the 2008 legislative electionsThe 7th Legislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27...
, drastic changes were made to the Legislative Yuan in accordance with a constitutional amendment passed in 2005. The Legislative Yuan has 113 members, down from 225. Legislators come to office through the following ways:
- 73 are elected under the first-past-the-post
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
system in single-member constituencies.
- 34 are elected under the supplementary member
Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other...
system on a second ballot, based on nationwide votes, and calculated using the largest remainder methodThe largest remainder method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems...
.
- Six seats are elected by aboriginal voters through single non-transferable vote
The single non-transferable vote or SNTV is an electoral system used in multi-member constituency elections.- Voting :In any election, each voter casts one vote for one candidate in a multi-candidate race for multiple offices. Posts are filled by the candidates with the most votes...
in two 3-member constituencies.
Members serve four-year terms.
Composition of the 7th Legislative Yuan (as of February 1, 2008)
{{stack begin}}
{{Chinese|pic=|piccap=|picsize=|title=Legislative Yuan|t=立法院|l=Law-establishing court|p=Lìfǎ Yuàn|j=Laap6 faat3 yun2|w=Lifa Yüan|poj=Li̍p-hoat-īⁿ|collapse=no}}
{{stack end}}
The Legislative Yuan ({{zh|c=立法院|p=Lìfǎ Yuàn|l=law-making court}}) is the unicameral legislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
of the Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(ROC).
The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches (called 'yuàn', "courts") of governmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of ChinaThe Constitution of the Republic of China is the fundamental law of the Republic of China . Drafted by the Kuomintang as part of its third stage of national development , it established a centralized Republic with five branches of government...
, which follows Sun Yat-senSun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
's Three Principles of the PeopleThe Three Principles of the People, also translated as Three People's Principles, or collectively San-min Doctrine, is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to make China a free, prosperous, and powerful nation...
. Although sometimes referred to as a "parliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
", the Legislative Yuan, under Sun's political theory, is a branch of government, while only the National Assembly of the Republic of ChinaThe National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed...
(now abolished), with the power to amend the constitution and formerly to elect the President and Vice President, could be considered a parliament. However, after constitutional amendments effectively transferring almost all of the National Assembly's powers to the Legislative Yuan in the late 1990s, it has become more common in Taiwanese newspapers to refer to the Legislative Yuan as the "parliament" (國會, guóhuì).
Composition
Starting with the 2008 legislative electionsThe 7th Legislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27...
, drastic changes were made to the Legislative Yuan in accordance with a constitutional amendment passed in 2005. The Legislative Yuan has 113 members, down from 225. Legislators come to office through the following ways:
- 73 are elected under the first-past-the-post
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
system in single-member constituencies.
- 34 are elected under the supplementary member
Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other...
system on a second ballot, based on nationwide votes, and calculated using the largest remainder methodThe largest remainder method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems...
.
- Six seats are elected by aboriginal voters through single non-transferable vote
The single non-transferable vote or SNTV is an electoral system used in multi-member constituency elections.- Voting :In any election, each voter casts one vote for one candidate in a multi-candidate race for multiple offices. Posts are filled by the candidates with the most votes...
in two 3-member constituencies.
Members serve four-year terms.
Composition of the 7th Legislative Yuan (as of February 1, 2008){{Ref label|Source|1|}
}
|-
!colspan=2|Party!!Constituency!!Aboriginal!!Party list!!Total seats!! %
|-
|rowspan=8 bgcolor=#9999FF| ||
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
registration || 57 || 4 || 20 || 81 ||rowspan=4 valign=top| 71.7%
|-
| KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
| 50
| 4
| 17
| 71
|-
| KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
with {{CNP}} endorsement{{Ref label|CNP|2|}}
| 2
| 0
| 0
| 2
|-
| {{PFP}}{{Ref label|PFP|3|}}
| 5
| 0
| 3
| 8
|-
|{{PFP}}{{Ref label|PFP|3|}}||0 ||1 ||- ||1|| 0.9%
|-
|{{NPSU}}{{Ref label|NPSU|4|}}||2 ||1 ||0 ||3 || 2.7%
|-
|{{IND-TW}}{{Ref label|Ind|5|}}||1||0||-||1||0.9%
|-bgcolor=#9999FF
|Pan-Blue CoalitionThe Pan-Blue Coalition 泛藍聯盟 or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colours of the Kuomintang...
||60||6||20||86||76.1%
|-
|rowspan=2 bgcolor=#99FF99| || Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
||13 ||0 ||14 ||27 ||23.9%
|-bgcolor=#99FF99
|Pan-Green CoalitionThe Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is an informal political alliance of the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party , Taiwan Solidarity Union , and the minor Taiwan Independence Party...
||13||0||14||27 ||23.9%
|-
|-bgcolor=EEEEEE
|colspan=2|TOTAL||73||6||34||113||100%
|-
|}
- {{note|Source}}Central Election Commission (pdf)
- {{note|CNP}}Under New Party direction, all New Party legislators in the 6th Legislative Yuan had joined the KMT, and New Party members ran as KMT candidates with New Party endorsement.
- {{note|PFP}}In a pre-election agreement, the Kuomintang and the People First Party agreed to register most PFP constituency candidates as KMT candidates, and nominate a common KMT party list, in order to prevent splitting of the Pan-Blue vote. The PFP holds one aboriginal seat contested under its own name, five constituency seats contested under the KMT banner, and three seats within the KMT party list.
- {{note|NPSU}}The NPSU is formally neither part of the Pan-Blue or Pan-Green coalition, but its members tend to ally themselves with the pan-Blue coalition, and were endorsed by the KMT in the election. All members voted for KMT candidate Wang Jin-pyng
Wang Jin-pyng , Taiwan, Empire of Japan), Taiwanese politician, is the President of the Legislative Yuan. As one of the leading figures of the Kuomintang, Wang is considered to be soft-spoken and a conciliatory figure.-Early life:...
over DPP candidate Chai Trong-rongChai Trong-rong , sometimes known in English as Trong Chai, is a Taiwanese politician. He is currently a member of the Legislative Yuan, the national legislative body of the Republic of China ....
for the Legislative Yuan presidency.
- {{note|Ind}}Chen Fu-hai of Kinmen
Kinmen , also known as Quemoy , is a small archipelago of several islands administered by the Republic of China : Greater Kinmen, Lesser Kinmen, and some islets. Administratively, it is Kinmen County of Fujian Province, ROC. The county is claimed by the People's Republic of China as part of its...
, the lone independent elected in this election, is a former KMT member and endorses the KMT 2008 presidential campaign. (see here) The Pan-Blue coalition permits multiple candidates in the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu where the DPP usually polls in the single digits.
The previous legislature had 225 members. Legislators were elected in the following ways:
- 168 were elected by popular vote through Single non-transferable vote
The single non-transferable vote or SNTV is an electoral system used in multi-member constituency elections.- Voting :In any election, each voter casts one vote for one candidate in a multi-candidate race for multiple offices. Posts are filled by the candidates with the most votes...
in multi-member consistencies
- 41 were elected on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties.
- Eight were allocated for overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
and were selected by the parties on the basis of the proportion of votes received nationwide.
- Eight seats were reserved for the aboriginal populations.
Legislative role and fist fights during parliament session
The Legislative Yuan has the power to pass all ordinary legislation. The amount of control the Legislative Yuan has over the Executive YuanThe Executive Yuan is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan".-Organization and structure:...
was unclear throughout the 1990s, but a convention has developed that the Executive Yuan is responsible to the President of the Republic of China and not the Legislative Yuan.
Much of the work of the Legislative Yuan is done via legislative committees, and a common sight on Taiwanese television involves officials of the executive branch answering extremely hostile questions from opposition members in committees. In the 1990s, there were a number of cases of fist fights breaking out on the floor, usually triggered by some perceived unfair procedure ruling, but in recent years, these have become less common. There was a brawl involving 50 legislators in January 2007 and an incident involving 40 legislators on 8 May 2007 when a speaker attempted to speak about reconfiguring the Central Election Committee. It has been alleged that fights are staged and planned in advance. These antics led the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable ResearchThe Annals of Improbable Research is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to scientific humor, in the form of a satirical take on the standard academic journal...
to award the Legislative Yuan its Ig Nobel Peace PrizeThe Ig Nobel Prizes are an American parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. The stated aim of the prizes is to "first make people laugh, and then make them think"...
in 1995 "for demonstrating that politicians gain more by punching, kicking and gouging each other than by waging war against other nations."
The other Yuans are authorized to propose legislative bills to the Legislative Yuan. Legislative bills proposed by the Legislative Yuan have to be cosigned by a certain number of legislators. Once a bill reaches the legislature, it is subject to a process of three readings.
History
{{refimprove|section|date=May 2011}}
The original Legislative Yuan was formed in the original Capital of Nanjing' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
after the completion of the Northern Expedition. Its 51 members were appointed to a term of two years. The 4th Legislative Yuan under this period had its members expanded to 194, and its term in office was extended to 14 years because of the Second Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
(1937–45). According to KMT political theory, these first four sessions marked the period of political tutelage.
The current Constitution of the Republic of ChinaThe Constitution of the Republic of China is the fundamental law of the Republic of China . Drafted by the Kuomintang as part of its third stage of national development , it established a centralized Republic with five branches of government...
came into effect on December 25, 1947 and the first Legislative session convened in Nanking on May 18, 1948 with 760 members. Six preparatory meetings had been held on May 8, 1948 they, during which Dr. Sun Fo and Mr. Chen Li-fu were elected President and Vice President of the body, respectively. In 1949, the mainlandMainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
fell to the CommunistsThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and the Legislative Yuan (along with the entire ROC government) was transplanted to TaipeiTaipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
. On February 24, 1950, 380 members convened at the Sun Yat-sen Hall in Taipei.
The first Legislative Yuan was to have been elected for a term of three years ending in 1951; however, the fall of the Mainland made it impossible to hold new elections. As a result, the Judicial YuanThe Judicial Yuan is one of five branches of the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan and serves as the highest judicial organ in Republic of China. Its Justices of the Constitutional Court , with 15 members, is charged with interpreting the Constitution...
decided that the members of the Legislative Yuan would continue to hold office until new elections could be held on the Mainland. In effect, these legislators (and members of the ruling KMT) held their seats for life, in a one-party system. Over the years, deceased members elected on the mainland were not replaced while additional seats were created for TaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
starting with eleven seats in 1969. Fifty-one new members were elected to a three-year term in 1972, fifty-two in 1975, ninety-seven in 1980, ninety-eight in 1983, one hundred in 1986, and one hundred thirty in 1989. Although the elected members of the Legislative Yuan did not have the majority to defeat legislation, they were able to use the Legislature Yuan as a platform to express political dissentPolitical dissent refers to any expression designed to convey dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Such expression may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence. Historically, repressive governments have sought to punish...
. Until 1991, opposition parties in TaiwanThe Tangwai movement was a political movement in the Republic of China in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the Kuomintang had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in Legislative Yuan, opposition parties were still forbidden...
were formally illegal. However in the 1970s, candidates to the Legislative Yuan would run as TangwaiThe Tangwai movement was a political movement in the Republic of China in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the Kuomintang had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in Legislative Yuan, opposition parties were still forbidden...
or outside the party and in 1985, candidates began to run under the banner of the Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
.
The original members of the Legislative Yuan remained until December 31, 1991, when as part of subsequent Judicial Yuan ruling, they were forced to retire and the members elected in 1989 remained until the 161 members of the Second Legislative Yuan were elected in December 1992. The third LY, elected in 1995, had 157 members serving 3-year terms. The fourth LY, elected in 1998, was expanded to 225 members in part to include legislators from the abolished provincial legislature of Taiwan ProvinceTaiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...
.
The Legislative Yuan greatly increased its prominence after the 2000 Presidential electionsThe Election for the 10th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China , the second ever direct elections for President and Vice President of the Republic of China on Taiwan and the 10th under the 1947 Constitution, were held on March 18, 2000...
in Taiwan when the Executive YuanThe Executive Yuan is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan".-Organization and structure:...
and presidencyThe President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
was controlled by the Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
while the Legislative Yuan had a large majority of KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
members. The legislative elections in late 2001 produced a contentious situation in which the pan-blue coalitionThe Pan-Blue Coalition 泛藍聯盟 or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colours of the Kuomintang...
has only a thin majority over the governing pan-green coalitionThe Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is an informal political alliance of the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party , Taiwan Solidarity Union , and the minor Taiwan Independence Party...
in the legislature,[{{Cite web | url = http://psephos.adam-carr.net/taiwan/taiwan2001.txt | title = Taiwan | year = 2001 | last = Carr | first = Adam | format = }} {{Dead link|date=April 2010}}] making the passage of bills often dependent on the votes of a few defectors and independents. Because of the party situation there have been constitutional conflicts between the Legislative Yuan and the executive branch over the process of appointment for the premierThe President of the Executive Yuan , commonly known as the Premier of the Republic of China , is the head of the Executive Yuan, the executive branch of the Republic of China , which currently administers Taiwan, Matsu, and Kinmen. The premier is appointed by the President of the Republic of China...
and whether the presidentThe President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
has the power to call a special session.
Amid 70% public support, the Legislative Yuan voted 217-1 on August 23, 2004 for a package of amendments to:
- halve the number of seats from 225 to 113
- switch to a single-member district parallel voting
Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other...
electoral system
- increase the terms of members from 3 to 4 years, to synchronize the legislative and presidential elections. (It is unclear whether this will be implemented for the next presidential and legislative elections.)
The new electoral system will include 73 plurality seats (one for each electoral district), 6 seats for aboriginals, with the remaining 34 seats to be filled from party listsParty-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
. Every county has a minimum of 1 electoral district, thereby guaranteed at least one seat in the legislature, while half of the proportionally represented seats drawn from party lists must be women.
Additionally, the Legislative Yuan proposed to abolish the National Assembly. Future amendments would still be proposed by the LY by a three-fourths vote from a quorum of at least three-fourths of all members of the Legislature. After a mandatory 180-day promulgation period, the amendment would have to be ratified by an absolute majority of all eligible voters of the ROC irrespective of voter turnout. The latter requirement would allow a party to kill a referendum proposal by asking that their voters boycott the vote as was done by the KMT with the referendums associated with the 2004 Presidential ElectionThe Election for the 11th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China , the third direct presidential election in Taiwan's history and the 11th presidential election overall under the 1947 Chinese Constitution, was held on March 20, 2004...
.
A DPP proposal to allow the citizen right to initiate constitutional referendums was pulled off the table due to a lack of support. The proposal for a right to initiative was criticized for dangerously lowering the threshold for considering a constitutional amendment. Whereas a three-fourth vote of the LY would require that any proposed constitutional amendment have a broad political consensus behind it, a citizen's initiative would allow a fraction of the electorate to force a constitutional referendum. It was feared that allowing this to occur would result in a referendum on Taiwan independenceTaiwan independence is a political movement whose goals are primarily to formally establish the Republic of Taiwan by renaming or replacing the Republic of China , form a Taiwanese national identity, reject unification and One country, two systems with the People's Republic of China and a Chinese...
which would likely result in a crisis with the People's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
The Legislative Yuan also proposed to give itself the power to summon the president for an annual "state of the nation" address and launch a recallA recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
of the president and vice president (proposed by one fourth and approved by two thirds of the legislators and be submitted to a nationwide referendum for approval or rejection by majority vote). The Legislative Yuan will also have the power to propose the impeachmentImpeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
of the president or vice president to the Council of Grand Justices.
An ad hoc National Assembly was elected and formed in 2005An election for the National Assembly took place in Taiwan on Saturday 2005-05-14, from 07:30 to 16:00 local time. It elected an ad hoc National Assembly whose only function was to serve as a constitutional convention in order to approve or reject amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of...
to ratify the amendments. The downsized Legislative Yuan took effect after the 2008 electionsThe 7th Legislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27...
.
On July 20, 2007, the Legislative Yuan passed a LobbyingLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
Act.
See also
{{Portal|Republic of China}}
- History of the Republic of China
The History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing Dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China put an end to over two thousand years of Imperial rule. The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1912...
- List of Legislative Yuan elections
- Legislative violence
Legislative violence broadly refers to any violent clashes between members of a legislature, often physically inside the legislature and triggered by divisive issues and tight votes...
- List of Presidents of the Legislative Yuan
- Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
External links
{{Commons category|Legislative Yuan}}
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{{Asia topic|Parliament of}}
{{ROC (Taiwan) Legislatures}}