National Assembly (Republic of China)
The National Assembly ( Chinese 國民 大會 , Pinyin Guómín Dàhuì ) was the parliament of the Republic of China from 1913 to 2005 .
History 1913–1949
The National Assembly of the Republic of China arose from the ideas of the state theorist Sun Yat-sen of a constitution which he called the " Three Principles of the People ". The Republic of China should enjoy state independence, people's welfare and, after a phase of instructing the population to act legally, democracy. Democratic decision-making in fundamental matters should lie with the National Assembly (Guomin Dahui 大會), while simple laws under constitutional rank should be dealt with by a second chamber of laws, the Legislative Yuan .
In 1913, the first National Assembly was elected in which the Guomindang (Kuomintang) won a majority over the Republican Party, the Unification Party, the Democratic Party, a multi-party list and a large number of non-party members. After the former monarchist Yuan Shikai was elected president by the National Assembly, he smashed this constitutional body in a coup.
The military rulers in northern China, excluding the Guomindang, convened the National Assembly again, which from 1923 onwards was cursed with the swear word "piglet parliament" because of a large-scale bribery affair by the opposition who had been driven abroad or underground.
In 1936 the National Assembly was reorganized, but one fifth could not be freely elected because Japan had occupied large areas of China. After the war with Japan , the electoral system was revised. The Chinese Communist Party , armed with Japanese weapons previously captured by the Soviet Union , did not take part in the elections. Smaller parties close to it, with the exception of the Social Democratic Party and the Young China Party , joined the Communist Party.
When elections were held in mainland China and Taiwan in November 1947, 250 million out of 350 million eligible voters went to the polls. China had about 460 million citizens at the time. No elections were allowed to be held in the communist-occupied areas. The new National Assembly consisted of 48% independent MPs, 37.4% Guomindang MPs, 7.8% MPs from the Young China Party and 6.8% from the Social Democratic Party. The constitutional body was constituted in March 1948.
Because of the steady advance of communist troops, the National Assembly passed a law on April 18, 1948 with a two-thirds majority to "put down the communist rebellion", which granted the president great powers and postponed all-China elections until afterwards.
In the National Assembly, the intellectual and writer Dr. Hu Shi favored, who, however, advocated Chiang Kai-shek , who was popular in the resistance against Japan . After more than 2,000 MPs agreed to this proposal, Chiang ran. With a majority of 2,430 of the 2,734 votes cast, the Assembly elected Chiang President. His challenger, lawyer Ju Zheng, received only 269 votes. The rest of the votes were invalid.
After the Chinese Communist Party took power in the conquered territories and proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 , most of the MPs fled to the island of Taiwan , which remained under the rule of the national Chinese government , where the National Assembly met with a smaller cast from 1950 .
"Long Parliament" 1949–1992
The National Assembly was thus elected for the last time by all of China in 1947. Due to martial law from 1947 to 1987, she remained in office without a break in general elections (hence the name of the opposition Long Parliament ). Elections were only possible for MPs from Taiwan (supplementary elections). It was symbolic of the Republic of China's claim to represent the whole of China in Taiwan.
Of the approximately 2,700 MPs who were last elected in 1947, around 800 were still alive around 1990. Her average age was most recently over 80 years. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and even individual Kuomintang politicians have called for the National Assembly to be dissolved.
Restructuring and dissolution 1991–2005
From the 1990s onwards, the National Assembly gradually gave up its powers. In 1991 the National Assembly repealed the law to put down the communist rebellion, which had been in force since 1948 . All MPs elected in 1946 resigned and paved the way for general elections. The election of the National Assembly in 1991 was the first election by a state legislature since 1949 to be fully elected by the people of Taiwan. In 1994 the National Assembly gave up its right to presidential elections in favor of direct popular elections. In 1996 a third National Assembly was elected to implement further constitutional changes. Since a constitutional amendment in 2000, the National Assembly only had to be re-elected if necessary, so it was no longer a permanent institution. In 2005, she was elected for the last time and implemented a constitutional amendment that transferred her last remaining powers to the legislative yuan. This meant the dissolution of the National Assembly as a constitutional body.
Meetings of the National Assembly
The following table shows the meetings of the National Assembly between 1948 and 2000 (the division into “real meetings” and “preparatory meetings” varies).
| Legislature | meeting | date | place | Activities and decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | First | March 1948 | Nanjing | 1. Election of the first president and vice-president 2. Enactment of the "Temporary injunctions during the national mobilization to put down the communist rebellion" |
| Second | February 1954 | Taipei | 1. Deselection of Vice President Li Zongren 2. Second election of President and Vice President |
|
| third | February 1960 | Taipei | 1. Third election of the President and Vice-President 2. Addition of the provisional constitutional articles on mobilization during times of war |
|
| First preparatory meeting |
February 1966 | Taipei | 1. Determination of the modes for referendums and legislative initiatives 2. Supplement to the provisional constitutional articles on mobilization during times of war |
|
| Fourth | February 1966 | Taipei | 1. Fourth election of the President and Vice-President 2. Addition of the provisional constitutional articles on mobilization during times of war |
|
| Fifth | February 1972 | Taipei | 1. Fifth election of the President and Vice-President 2. Addition of the provisional constitutional articles on mobilization during wartime |
|
| Sixth | February 1978 | Taipei | Sixth election of the President and Vice-President | |
| Seventh | February 1984 | Taipei | Seventh election of the President and Vice-President | |
| Eighth | February 1990 | Taipei | Eighth election of the President and Vice President | |
| Second preparatory meeting |
April 1991 | Taipei | 1. Adoption of amendments 1 to 10 of the constitution 2. Repeal of the "Temporary injunctions during the national mobilization to crush the communist rebellion" |
|
| Second | First | March 1992 | Taipei | Adoption of the 11th to 18th amendments to the constitution |
| Second | December 1992 | Taipei | 1. Hearing and discussion of the President's State of the Union report. 2. Confirmation of the President-nominated Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Control Yuan |
|
| Third | April 1993 | Taipei | Confirmation of the President-nominated Presidents and Vice-Presidents of Examination Yuan and Vice-President of Justice Yuan | |
| Fourth | April 1994 | Taipei | 1. Hearing and discussion of the President's State of the Union report 2. Constitutional amendments: Re-wording of the original Articles 1 to 18 into Articles 1 to 10 3. Confirmation of the President-nominated President of the Judicial Yuan and Chief Justice |
|
| Fifth | July 1995 | Taipei | 1. Hearing and discussion of the President's report on the State of the Union 2. Adopting the law on the organization of the National Assembly and five rules of procedure |
|
| third | First | July 1996 | Taipei | 1. Election of the speaker of the National Assembly and his representative 2. Hearing and discussion of the report of the president on the state of the nation 3. Acting of the presidents and vice-presidents nominated by the president of the Examination Yuan 4. Adjustments of the rules of procedure |
| Second | May 1997 | Taipei | 1. Hearing and discussion of the President's State of the Union report. 2. Adopting constitutional amendments |
|
| Third | July 1998 | Taipei | 1. Hearing and discussion of the President's report on the state of the nation 2. Election of the speaker of the National Assembly and his representative 3. Confirmation of the President of Justice Yuan nominated by the President 4. Adoption of rules of procedure |
|
| Fourth | June 1999 | Taipei | 1. Hearing and discussion of the President's report on the State of the Union 2. Adjustments to Articles 1, 4, 9 and 10 of the constitutional amendments (these had previously been declared invalid by the Justice Yuan) 3. Adoption of regulations for Rules of Procedure |
|
| Fifth | April 2000 | Taipei | 1. Adaptation of Articles 1, 2 and 4 to 10 of the amendments to the Constitution 2. Adaptation of Article 38 of the Debate Regulations of the National Assembly |
|
| Fourth | First | June 2005 | Taipei | Transfer of all previous powers of the National Assembly to the Legislative Yuan |
literature
- Thomas Weyrauch: China's neglected republic. 100 years in the shadow of world history. Volume 1 (1911-1949) . Longtai, Giessen 2009, ISBN 978-3-938946-14-5 .
- Thomas Weyrauch: China's neglected republic. 100 years in the shadow of world history. Volume 2 (1950-2011) . Longtai, Giessen 2011, ISBN 978-3-938946-15-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Weyrauch: China's neglected republic. 100 years in the shadow of world history. Vol. 1, p. 287 ff.
- ↑ Wolfgang Lasars: Return to the Constitution, Reform of the Constitution or Enactment of a New Constitution? An interim report on the democratic reform in Sino-national constitutional law. In: Constitution and Law Overseas. Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Volume 25, 1992, ISSN 0506-7286 , p. 121.
- ↑ Meeting. National Assembly website, accessed September 29, 2018 .
- ^ Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Office of the President of the Republic of China, accessed November 23, 2018 .