Election of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China in 1995

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Legislative Yuan 19951998 →

(Turnout 67.6%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

46.1

33.2

13.0

0.1

7.7

KMT

DPP

Xindg ^c

Otherwise.

Independent

Gains and losses

compared to 1992

 % p

 14th

 12

 10

   8th

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

-6.9

+2.2

+13.0

-1.7

-6.3

KMT

DPP

Xindg ^c

Otherwise.

Independent

Remarks:

^c The Xindang ("New Party") was founded in 1993.

The 1995 election of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China took place on December 2, 1995 . The 164 MPs of the Legislative Yuan , the legislative assembly of the Republic of China in Taiwan, were elected. It was the second election of the legislative Yuan under democratic conditions, ie after the end of one-party rule of the Kuomintang in the early 1990s. The ruling Kuomintang received less than 50% of the vote for the first time, but was able to hold the majority of the parliamentary seats.

prehistory

Lee Teng-hui (2004), President of the Republic and KMT party leader

Shih Ming-teh (2006), DPP chairman

Beginning in the 1980s, Taiwan had undergone a gradual, profound change in political culture. The Kuomintang, which had previously ruled in sole power, began to reform its internal structures. While in the past cadres who came almost exclusively from mainland China sat at the levers of power and dictated the political goal of "reunification with mainland China", KMT chairmen Chiang Ching-kuo (chairman 1975–1988) and Lee Teng-hui ( Chairman 1988–2000) to a progressive “Taiwanization” of the party, ie more and more leadership positions in the party were filled with people who had their roots on the island of Taiwan. In the 1990s this process had progressed so far that the “native” Taiwanese formed the majority faction (“mainstream”) in the KMT and the first and second generation mainland Chinese represented a minority. At the same time, the KMT relaxed its previous claim to the monopoly of power in the state and there was increasing democratization. In 1987 martial law, which had been in force since 1947, was repealed and in 1986 the later main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was founded. Further party foundations followed. In 1992 the first democratic and free direct elections by western standards were won by the KMT. The DPP achieved a respectable success with 31.0 of the votes.

The "Taiwanization" of the KMT and the associated increasing concentration on local Taiwanese traditions was not without controversy. Critics suspected that this was gradually giving up the goal of reunification with the mainland and called for a more decisive political orientation towards this goal. As a result of this movement, disappointed former KMT supporters founded the Xindang , the "New Party", in August 1993 . The Xindang took a strict pro-reunification course and emphasized Taiwan's belonging to the Chinese culture. Xindang adherents often included people who came from the mainland themselves or their ancestors (who made up around 15% of the population), who on average had a higher level of education and who lived mainly in northern Taiwan. This contrasted with the DPP, which emphasized Taiwan's independence and sharply rejected the People's Republic of China's claims to the island nation. She called for the abandonment of the goal of unification with China and the island's "declaration of independence". Most of its supporters came from the south and consisted mostly of long-established local Taiwanese who made up about 85% of the population.

Taiwan Strait Crisis

The choice came at a time of tension between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. When Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui took a lecture tour to Cornell University , his former alma mater , in June 1995 , the official tone of the People's Republic of China tightened. Although Lee officially traveled there as a private person and not as head of state, the People's Republic saw this as a challenge to its one-China position and carried out ballistic missile tests from July 21 to 26, 1995 in a sea area about 50 kilometers north of Taiwanese Pengjia Island (on the northern tip of Taiwan). At the same time, she moved parts of the air force to the coast of Fujian Province . On August 15 and 25, 1995, missile tests took place again and the Taiwanese military reconnaissance received news of planned maneuvers by the People's Liberation Army , during which naval-assisted landing operations should be practiced. These undisguised military threats, however, had relatively little influence on the election. Rather, they had the effect of driving voters into the anti-Chinese camp. The crisis lasted until the presidential election in March of the following year and did not end until the US sent larger naval formations across the strait .

Election mode

Since the last election in 1992, the number of constituencies had increased by three, bringing the total number of MPs to be elected to 164. Of the 164 MPs, 122 were elected in multi-person constituencies using the simple non-transferable voting mode , and the indigenous peoples of Taiwan elect a further 6 representatives in respective constituencies (3 in the highlands, 3 in the lowlands). Six MPs were elected by the overseas Taiwanese and another 30 were filled according to the national voting share of the parties. A 5 percent threshold was applied .

334 registered candidates, including 117 independents, 105 KMT, 71 DPP and 36 Xindang candidates, and a few others applied for the 128 (122 + 6) constituency seats.

Results

A total of 14,153,420 people were eligible to vote in the Republic of China. 9,574,388 (67.64%) took part. 132,252 ballots (0.93%) were invalid and 9,442,136 were valid. 58,394 and 75,309 votes were cast by the indigenous population in each of the three constituencies of the highlands and the lowlands. The turnout of the indigenous population was 53.0% in the lowlands and 62.3% in the highlands.

Political party		be right		Mandates				Total seats
		number	in %	List	Foreign	Constituency	Native people-	number	%	+/-
	Kuomintang (中國 國民黨)	4,349,089	46.1	15th	3	61	6th	85	51.8	−10
	Democratic Progressive Party (民主 進步 黨)	3,132,156	33.2	11	2	41	0	54	32.9	+3
	Xindang (新 黨)	1,222,931	13.0	4th	1	16	0	21st	12.8	New
	Chinese Native Taiwan Party ((台灣 原)	5,707	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	New
	Taiwan Labor Party (勞動 黨)	1,207	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0
	Citizens' Party (公民 黨)	542	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	New
	Impartial Democratic Union (全國 民主 非)	517	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	New
	Independent	729.987	7.7	0	0	4th	0	4th	2.4	−10
total		9,442,136	100	30th	6th	122	6th	164	100.0	+3
Source: Taiwan Electoral Commission

Of the 164 elected MPs, 141 were men and 23 (14.0%) women.

Constituency cards

• 

  Constituency results (parties with the highest voting power). Kuomintang DPP
  
  

• 

  Constituency results in hexagonal representation: Kuomintang DPP Xindang Independents
  
  
  
  

After the election

Composition of the newly elected Legislative Yuan: Kuomintang (85) Xindang (21) DPP (54) Independent (4)





Overall, the Kuomintang received the most votes and seats. It reached just under (3 mandates) the absolute majority of mandates. For the first time in its entire party history, it fell below the 50% share of the vote. The KMT suffered losses primarily in the large cities of Taipei , Taichung and Kaohsiung , where the Xindang was able to gain ground, especially in districts that were previously considered to be the strongholds of the KMT. The KMT remained strong in the rural areas of Hsinchu , Miaoli , Yunlin , Nantou and the remote islets of Kinmen , Matsu and Penghu , but election observers explained this with the extensive system of patronage that the KMT had operated there for decades. The Xindang's gains were attributed by observers to the Xindang campaign against allegedly corrupt KMT elites rather than to a national Chinese electorate. Although the DPP gained more votes, it fell short of some expectations overall. Compared to their results in the local elections in 1993 and mayoral elections in 1994, their share of the vote actually decreased somewhat. Various reasons were given for this. On the one hand, the party had miscalculated when it came to nominations. The constituency candidates were elected in multi-person constituencies. However, the DPP leadership had put up too many candidates, so that the DPP votes were too dispersed and the individual candidates received too few votes to be elected. On the other hand, tactical voter behavior had partly had an unfavorable effect. Even supposedly “safe”, popular candidates failed because the DPP voters believed that these candidates were safe and voted for other people. In addition, in some electoral districts the DPP failed to present itself sufficiently attractive to potential groups of voters (middle class voters, women, young voters).

In the opinion of election observers, the elections largely met democratic standards. However, one-sided reporting by the state media in favor of the KMT and the “ money politics” of the KMT, in which voters were lured by pledges for large investments and the practice of the, which is still widespread especially in rural areas, were criticized Vote buying .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas J. Bellows: The Republic of China's Legislative Yuan: a study of institutional evolution. In: Hungdah Chiu (Ed.): Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies . tape 4 , 2003 (English, umaryland.edu ).
2. ^ John F. Copper: Taiwan's recent elections: Fulfilling the democratic promise. In: Hungdah Chiu (Ed.): Contemporary Asian Studies Series . tape 6 , no. 1 , 1990 (English, umaryland.edu ).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Taiwan Communiqué, No. 69 (PDF) January 1996, accessed on November 13, 2016 (English). 
4. ↑ Taiwan Strait 21 July 1995 to 23 March 1996. GlobalSecurity.org, accessed November 13, 2016 (English). 
5. ↑ Crowd of candidates rush for seats in the legislature. (No longer available online.) Taiwan Today, November 10, 1995, archived from the original on November 13, 2016 ; accessed on November 13, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ ^{a b} 1995 Legislator Election. Taiwan Central Electoral Commission, accessed November 14, 2016 . 
7. ↑ AM Rosenthal: On My Mind; Yes, There Is A Taiwan. The New York Times, November 28, 1995, accessed November 13, 2016 .