The
Election for the 5th Legislative Yuan (五屆立法委員選舉) of the
Republic of China (ROC)The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
on
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
was held on December 1, 2001. All 225 seats of the
Legislative YuanThe Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China , which administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu Islands....
were up for election: 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected from
overseas ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the territories administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
constituencies on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the aboriginal populations.
The
Election for the 5th Legislative Yuan (五屆立法委員選舉) of the
Republic of China (ROC)The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
on
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
was held on December 1, 2001. All 225 seats of the
Legislative YuanThe Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China , which administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu Islands....
were up for election: 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected from
overseas ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the territories administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
constituencies on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties, eight elected by popular vote among the aboriginal populations. Members served three year terms from February 1, 2002 to February 1, 2005
The first national
electionAn election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and...
to be held after
Chen Shui-bianChen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
's victory in the
2000 ROC presidential electionThe 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...
, the 2001 legislative election resulted for the first time in the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
(KMT) losing its majority and President Chen's
Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a major political party in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity, including promotion of...
to emerging as the largest party in the legislature. However, the
Pan-Blue CoalitionThe Pan-Blue Coalition or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colors of the Kuomintang...
developed between the Kuomintang, the
People First PartyThe following is a list of political parties known as the "People First Party" in their respective countries.*People First Party *People First Party...
and the
New PartyThe New Party , formerly the Chinese New Party , is a centre-right political party in the Republic of China ....
, enabled the
Chinese reunificationChinese reunification is a goal of Chinese nationalism that refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China under a single political entity...
ist and conservative opposition to muster a slim majority over the pro-
Taiwan independenceTaiwan independence is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan out of the lands currently governed by the Republic of China and claimed by the People's Republic of China .This movement is supported by the Pan-Green Coalition in Taiwan...
Pan-Green CoalitionThe Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is currently 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...
formed between the
Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a major political party in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity, including promotion of...
and the
Taiwan Solidarity UnionThe Taiwan Solidarity Union is a political party in the Republic of China which advocates Taiwan independence. Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party, its larger companion party in the pan-green coalition, the TSU actively campaigns for the creation of a de jure Republic of Taiwan...
. This resulted in much of President Chen's agenda being derailed or deadlocked for the following three years.
| Political Party |
Overall votes |
Overall % |
Local |
At-large |
Aboriginal |
Overseas |
Total seats |
Change |
| * |
3,447,740 |
36.6% |
69 |
15 |
0 |
3 |
87 |
+21 |
| * |
2,949,371 |
31.3% |
49 |
13 |
4 |
2 |
68 |
-46 |
| * |
1,917,836 |
20.3% |
33 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
46 |
+29 |
| * |
801,560 |
08.5% |
8 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
+13 |
|
269,620 |
2.9% |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
-8 |
| Others/none |
52,342 |
00.4% |
8 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
-9 |
| Eligible voters |
15,822,684 |
| Votes cast |
10,468,990 (66.2%) |
| Invalid votes |
141,135 (01.3%) |
| Valid votes |
10,327,855 (98.7%) |
| *5% vote threshold needed for proportional seat assignment |
The KMT lost its majority for the first time, losing 46 seats and falling to 68 seats. The largest party had become the DPP with 87 seats, followed by the KMT, and the PFP with 46 seats. Various parties and independents held the remainder. The Chinese New Party which lost all of its seat except the one seat on Quemoy while the newly formed
Taiwan Solidarity UnionThe Taiwan Solidarity Union is a political party in the Republic of China which advocates Taiwan independence. Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party, its larger companion party in the pan-green coalition, the TSU actively campaigns for the creation of a de jure Republic of Taiwan...
(TSU) captured 13 seats, with independents holding on to 10 seats.
Part of the KMT's loss could be attributed to defections to both the People First Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union. The People First Party formed by
James SoongJames Chu-yu Soong is a politician in the Republic of China on Taiwan. He founded and chairs the People First Party, a smaller and more conservative party in the Kuomintang -led Pan-Blue Coalition....
and his supporters after the 2000 presidential elections. Soong had been expelled from the KMT after launching an independent bid for the presidency and narrowly lost the race to Chen Shui-bian. The Taiwan Solidarity Union was formed by supporters of former President and KMT Chairman
Lee Teng-huiLee Teng-hui is a politician of Republic of China . He was President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct presidential election for the...
(who took the title of "spiritual leader" in the party). For this, Lee was also expelled from the KMT. Though the both off-shoots of the Kuomintang, the People First Party advocated a more conservative position than the KMT while the Taiwan Solidarity Union took on a radical pro-independence stance. After Lee's expulsion, the KMT and PFP had a warming of relations and cooperated in the election. The more moderate pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party cooperated with the Taiwan Solidarity Union likewise, leading to the formation of the
pan-blueThe Pan-Blue Coalition or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colors of the Kuomintang...
and
pan-greenThe Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is currently 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...
coalitions.
The KMT's loss in the election could also be attributed partly to the
single non-transferable votingThe 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...
scheme in place. Though the DPP won 40% of the seats they only polled 36% of the vote because of the inability of the KMT, PFP, and New Party to coordinate their electoral strategies. This led to more stringent vote allocation strategies by pan-blue in
2004The Election for the 6
th Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China on Taiwan was held on December 11, 2004. All 225 seats of the Legislative Yuan were up for election: 168 elected by popular vote, 41 elected on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating...
, which helped prevent pan-green from gaining a majority.