National Assembly of the Republic of China
Encyclopedia
The National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliament
ary 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 dictatorial power. During the warlord era, the National Assembly was resurrected and disbanded more than once as different warlords vied for power and legitimacy. The last continuous National Assembly was established under the framework of the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China
as a constitutional convention
and electoral college
and called into place in 1948. It was transplanted to Taiwan
in 1949 after the Kuomintang
(KMT) lost mainland China
in the Chinese Civil War
. In the 1980s and 1990s, its parliamentary powers were gradually transferred to the Legislative Yuan
before constitutional amendments made it a dormant body in 2000 and fully defunct in 2005.
who overthrew the Qing Dynasty
. In response, the Qing Dynasty
formed the first assembly in 1910 but it was virtually powerless and intended only as an advisory body. After the Xinhai Revolution
, elections yielded the bicameral 1913 National Assembly but significantly less than one percent voted due to gender, property, tax, residential, and literacy requirements. It was not a single nationwide election but a series of local elections that began on December 1912 with most concluding on January 1913. The poll was indirect as voters chose electors
who picked the delegates which caused instances of bribery. The Senate was elected by the provincial assemblies. The president had to pick the 64 members representing Tibet
, Outer Mongolia
, and Overseas Chinese
due to practical reasons. However, these elections had the participation of over 300 civic groups and were the most competitive nationwide elections in Chinese history. The election results gave a clear plurality for the Nationalists, they won 392 of the 870 seats, but there was confusion as many candidates were members in several parties concurrently. Several switch parties after the election giving the Nationalists 438. By order of seats, the Republican, Unity, and Democratic (formerly Constitutionalist) parties later merged into the Progressive Party
under Liang Qichao
.
Kuomintang leader Song Jiaoren
was expected to become premier but he was assassinated on March 20. An investigation linked the crime to Premier Zhao Bingjun
and possibly the provisional president, Yuan Shikai. The assembly convened for the first time on April 8 amid heated debate over the assassination. The Kuomintang was divided over solutions on how to deal with Yuan. Sun Yat-sen
led a faction to rebel against Yuan on July 12 but was completely defeated within two months. The National Assembly members were compromised by threats and bribes from Yuan. He confined them and forced them to elect him formal president. Next, he outlawed the Kuomintang and expelled them from the assembly. Without a quorum
, it could not convene so Yuan disbanded it on 10 January 1914.
After Yuan died, the National Assembly reconvened on 1 August 1916 under the pretext that its three year term was suspended not expired, but President Li Yuanhong
was forced to disband it due to the Manchu Restoration on 13 June 1917. 130 members (mostly Kuomintang) moved to Guangzhou
where they held an "extraordinary session" on 25 August under a rival government led by Sun Yat-sen, another 120 quickly followed. After the Old Guangxi Clique
became disruptive, the assembly temporarily moved to Kunming
and later Chongqing
under Tang Jiyao
's protection until Guangzhou was liberated. Lacking a quorum, they selected new members in 1919.
In the Beiyang government
, Premier Duan Qirui
initiated elections for a new assembly. Seventeen provinces responded, five southern provinces boycotted, and the delegates for Tibet, Xinjiang
, and Qinghai
were chosen by Beijing. Votes were bought and sold in an open market with prices fluctuating constantly and fraud and abuse was widespread. Duan dominated this assembly with his Anhui clique
's political wing, the Anfu Club, which won 342 of the 470 seats with the rest going to Liang Shiyi
's Communications Clique
, Liang Qichao's Research Clique or to independents. It met on 12 August 1918 to elect Xu Shichang to the presidency. This assembly met until 30 August 1920 when the Anhui clique was defeated by the Zhili clique in the Zhili-Anhui War
. Xu held national elections in 1921 but only eleven provinces responded so that assembly never convened.
In 1922, Li Yuanhong was brought back to the Beijing presidency and he recalled the 1913 one again minus the 1919 "extraordinary" additions under the same pretext that its three years are not finished. Because Sun's Guangzhou regime was in disarray due to Chen Jiongming
's rebellion, most members returned to Beijing for its August 1 session. The assembly was thoroughly discredited when it elected Cao Kun
president after being bribed in 1923. To cover its shame, the assembly hastily finished the constitution it was working on for a decade. It was finally dissolved after Feng Yuxiang
's coup
on 24 November 1924. This assembly's three year term was spread out over eleven years and was marked by corruption, factionalism, absences, and endless debate.
promulgated a new constitution and its first National Assembly met in 1948 in Nanjing
, then the Chinese capital. Shortly afterwards in 1949, the Mainland
fell to the Communists
in the Chinese Civil War
, and the National Assembly (along with the entire ROC government) was transplanted to Taipei
. Apart from the KMT, the only legal parties were the Democratic Socialists
and the Chinese Youth Party
.
The first National Assembly was to have been elected for a period of only seven years. However, according to the Kuomintang
(KMT) leadership, the fall of the Mainland made it impossible to hold new elections, as all Mainland provinces were undergoing "Communist rebellion". As a result, the Judicial Yuan
decided that the original members of the National Assembly would continue to hold office until the Communists
could be defeated on the Mainland and legitimate ROC rule of all of China restored.
Originally, the National Assembly elected the President
and Vice President of the Republic of China. A subsequent constitutional amendment abolished this role and established direct popular elections for the two offices. Most of its other former functions, such as hearing the president's State of the Nation Address and approving the president's nominations of the grand justices and the heads of the Examination
and Control
Yuans, are now the functions of the Legislative Yuan
.
After the 1991 passage of constitutional reforms, there was strong objection to the new form of the Assembly, which had essentially become a permanent constitutional convention. Because of this, in 2000 the National Assembly was suspended. From 2000 to 2005, the 300 assembly members were selected ad hoc
on the basis of proportional representation
by a special election within six months of proposal by the Legislative Yuan to amend the Constitution, impeach the president or vice president, or change national borders.
on Taiwan independence
which would trigger a crisis with the People's Republic of China
. By contrast, keeping the 3/4 legislative vote requirement would mean that any constitutional amendment would require a consensus among both the pan-green coalition
and pan-blue coalition
to be considered. The requirement that a majority of all voters approve the amendment allows for a party to block an amendment by boycotting the vote as was done with the referendums voted on the March 2004 ROC Presidential elections.
Under the Constitution, the National Assembly must then be activated to ratify these amendments. Such ratification of the constitutional amendments was originally considered to be a formality, a number of unexpected complications occurred in 2005. The first was the poor showing of the People's First Party (PFP) in the 2004 Legislative Yuan election
. The PFP was widely expected to merge with the KMT, but PFP Chairman James Soong
became disenchanted by the idea. The second was the reluctance of the Taiwan Solidarity Union
to pass the amendments. These amendments were seen by some Taiwan independence supporters as a prelude to a later declaration of independence, but the results of the 2004 election made this very unlikely. Faced with this outcome, the TSU became very reluctant to support a reform that would make elections by small parties, such as itself harder.
One final unexpected outcome occurred which gave the National Assembly elections on May 14, 2005 more significance that was originally intended. The National Assembly election
was lined up immediately after trips to mainland China
by KMT Chairman Lien Chan
and PFP Chairman James Soong
. This had the effect of turning the May 14 elections into an opinion poll on relations with mainland China which was undesired by the Democratic Progressive Party
, though the DPP subsequently gained a plurality in the elections.
On June 7, 2005, the 300 delegates voted (by a majority of 249 to 48) the constitutional amendments into effect, and so effectively abolished the National Assembly.
Parliament
A 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...
ary bodies that existed in the Republic of China
Republic of China (1912–1949)
In 1911, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established in China and the monarchy overthrown by a group of revolutionaries. The Qing Dynasty, having just experienced a century of instability, suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism...
. The National Assembly
National Assembly
National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...
was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature
Legislature
A 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...
in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...
assumed dictatorial power. During the warlord era, the National Assembly was resurrected and disbanded more than once as different warlords vied for power and legitimacy. The last continuous National Assembly was established under the framework of the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China
Constitution of the Republic of China
The 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...
as a constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
and electoral college
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
and called into place in 1948. It was transplanted to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , 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...
in 1949 after the Kuomintang
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...
(KMT) lost mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland 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...
in the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
. In the 1980s and 1990s, its parliamentary powers were gradually transferred to the Legislative Yuan
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...
before constitutional amendments made it a dormant body in 2000 and fully defunct in 2005.
Early Republican period
Calls for a National Assembly were part of the platform of the revolutionariesTongmenghui
The Tongmenghui, also known as the Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance and United Allegiance Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement formed when merging many Chinese revolutionary groups together by Sun Yat-sen, Song...
who overthrew the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. In response, the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
formed the first assembly in 1910 but it was virtually powerless and intended only as an advisory body. After the Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
, elections yielded the bicameral 1913 National Assembly but significantly less than one percent voted due to gender, property, tax, residential, and literacy requirements. It was not a single nationwide election but a series of local elections that began on December 1912 with most concluding on January 1913. The poll was indirect as voters chose electors
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
who picked the delegates which caused instances of bribery. The Senate was elected by the provincial assemblies. The president had to pick the 64 members representing Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia was a territory of the Qing Dynasty = the Manchu Empire. Its area was roughly equivalent to that of the modern state of Mongolia, which is sometimes informally called "Outer Mongolia" today...
, and Overseas Chinese
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....
due to practical reasons. However, these elections had the participation of over 300 civic groups and were the most competitive nationwide elections in Chinese history. The election results gave a clear plurality for the Nationalists, they won 392 of the 870 seats, but there was confusion as many candidates were members in several parties concurrently. Several switch parties after the election giving the Nationalists 438. By order of seats, the Republican, Unity, and Democratic (formerly Constitutionalist) parties later merged into the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (China)
- Origins :Chinese constitutionalism was a movement that originated after the First Sino-Japanese War . A young group of intellectuals in China led by Kang Youwei argued that China's defeat was due to its lack of modern institutions and legal framework which the Self-Strengthening Movement had...
under Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao |Styled]] Zhuoru, ; Pseudonym: Rengong) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty , who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements...
.
Kuomintang leader Song Jiaoren
Song Jiaoren
Song Jiaoren was a Chinese republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuomintang . He was assassinated in 1913 after leading his Kuomintang party to victory in China's first democratic elections...
was expected to become premier but he was assassinated on March 20. An investigation linked the crime to Premier Zhao Bingjun
Zhao Bingjun
Zhao Bingjun was the third premier of the Republic of China from 25 September 1912 to 1 May 1913. Zhao was previously a public security official during the Qing dynasty and became minister of the interior during the republic before becoming premier. He was directly implicated in the...
and possibly the provisional president, Yuan Shikai. The assembly convened for the first time on April 8 amid heated debate over the assassination. The Kuomintang was divided over solutions on how to deal with Yuan. Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun 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...
led a faction to rebel against Yuan on July 12 but was completely defeated within two months. The National Assembly members were compromised by threats and bribes from Yuan. He confined them and forced them to elect him formal president. Next, he outlawed the Kuomintang and expelled them from the assembly. Without a quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
, it could not convene so Yuan disbanded it on 10 January 1914.
After Yuan died, the National Assembly reconvened on 1 August 1916 under the pretext that its three year term was suspended not expired, but President Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong was a Chinese general and political figure during the Qing dynasty and the republican era. He was twice president of the Republic of China.- Early history :...
was forced to disband it due to the Manchu Restoration on 13 June 1917. 130 members (mostly Kuomintang) moved to Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
where they held an "extraordinary session" on 25 August under a rival government led by Sun Yat-sen, another 120 quickly followed. After the Old Guangxi Clique
Old Guangxi clique
After the founding of the Republic of China, Guangxi served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques of China: the Old Guangxi Clique. Led by Lu Rongting, the clique was able to take control of neighbouring Hunan and Guangdong provinces as well...
became disruptive, the assembly temporarily moved to Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
and later Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
under Tang Jiyao
Tang Jiyao
Tang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China. Tang Jiyao was military governor of Yunnan from 1913-1927.-Life:...
's protection until Guangzhou was liberated. Lacking a quorum, they selected new members in 1919.
In the Beiyang government
Beiyang Government
The Beiyang government or warlord government collectively refers to a series of military regimes that ruled from Beijing from 1912 to 1928 at Zhongnanhai. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Government of the Republic of China. The name comes from the Beiyang Army which dominated...
, Premier Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui was a Chinese warlord and politician, commander in the Beiyang Army, and the Provisional Chief Executive of Republic of China from November 24, 1924 to April 20, 1926. He was arguably the most powerful man in China from 1916 to 1920.- Early life :Born in Hefei as Duan Qirui , his...
initiated elections for a new assembly. Seventeen provinces responded, five southern provinces boycotted, and the delegates for Tibet, Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, and Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
were chosen by Beijing. Votes were bought and sold in an open market with prices fluctuating constantly and fraud and abuse was widespread. Duan dominated this assembly with his Anhui clique
Anhui clique
The Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
's political wing, the Anfu Club, which won 342 of the 470 seats with the rest going to Liang Shiyi
Liang Shiyi
Liang Shiyi was premier of China's Beiyang government from 1921 to 1922.-Biography:Liang Shiyi was born in Sanshui, Guangdong in 1869. In the Qing dynasty, he was put in charge of railways, the most profitable ministry of the government. This allowed him to create the influential Communications...
's Communications Clique
Communications Clique
The Communications Clique was a powerful interest group of politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, businessmen, engineers, and labour unionists in China's Beiyang government . It is also known as the Cantonese Clique because many of its leaders hail from Guangdong...
, Liang Qichao's Research Clique or to independents. It met on 12 August 1918 to elect Xu Shichang to the presidency. This assembly met until 30 August 1920 when the Anhui clique was defeated by the Zhili clique in the Zhili-Anhui War
Zhili-Anhui War
The Zhili–Anhui War was a 1920 conflict in the Republic of China's Warlord Era between the Zhili clique and Anhui cliques for control of the Beiyang government.-Prelude:...
. Xu held national elections in 1921 but only eleven provinces responded so that assembly never convened.
In 1922, Li Yuanhong was brought back to the Beijing presidency and he recalled the 1913 one again minus the 1919 "extraordinary" additions under the same pretext that its three years are not finished. Because Sun's Guangzhou regime was in disarray due to Chen Jiongming
Chen Jiongming
Chen Jiongming was a revolutionary figure in the early periods of the Republic of China. Chen Jiongming was born in 1878 at Haifeng, Guangdong, China....
's rebellion, most members returned to Beijing for its August 1 session. The assembly was thoroughly discredited when it elected Cao Kun
Cao Kun
|-...
president after being bribed in 1923. To cover its shame, the assembly hastily finished the constitution it was working on for a decade. It was finally dissolved after Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
's coup
Beijing coup
The Beijing coup refers to the October 1924 coup d'etat by Feng Yuxiang against Chinese President Cao Kun, leader of the Zhili warlord faction. Feng called it the Capital Revolution . The coup occurred at a crucial moment in the Second Zhili–Fengtian War and allowed the pro-Japanese Fengtian...
on 24 November 1924. This assembly's three year term was spread out over eleven years and was marked by corruption, factionalism, absences, and endless debate.
1946 Constitution
In 1946, the KuomintangKuomintang
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...
promulgated a new constitution and its first National Assembly met in 1948 in Nanjing
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...
, then the Chinese capital. Shortly afterwards in 1949, the Mainland
Mainland China
Mainland 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 Communists
Communist Party of China
The 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...
in the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, and the National Assembly (along with the entire ROC government) was transplanted to Taipei
Taipei
Taipei 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...
. Apart from the KMT, the only legal parties were the Democratic Socialists
China Democratic Socialist Party
The China Democratic Socialist Party was founded in Shanghai on 15 August 1946. It was formed through the merger of the former Chinese National Socialist Party and the Democratic Constitutionalist Party , both of which had survived the years of Japanese aggression by generally supporting the...
and the Chinese Youth Party
Chinese Youth Party
The Young China Party , also known as the Chinese Youth Party, is a minor political party in the Republic of China...
.
The first National Assembly was to have been elected for a period of only seven years. However, according to the Kuomintang
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...
(KMT) leadership, the fall of the Mainland made it impossible to hold new elections, as all Mainland provinces were undergoing "Communist rebellion". As a result, the Judicial Yuan
Judicial Yuan
The 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 original members of the National Assembly would continue to hold office until the Communists
Communist Party of China
The 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...
could be defeated on the Mainland and legitimate ROC rule of all of China restored.
Reforms in the 1990s
As a result of this decision, the same National Assembly, elected in 1947, remained until 1991, when as part of a constitutional ruling a Second National Assembly was elected.Originally, the National Assembly elected the President
President of the Republic of China
The 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...
and Vice President of the Republic of China. A subsequent constitutional amendment abolished this role and established direct popular elections for the two offices. Most of its other former functions, such as hearing the president's State of the Nation Address and approving the president's nominations of the grand justices and the heads of the Examination
Examination Yuan
The Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants in the Republic of China . It is one of the five government branches of the ROC government...
and Control
Control Yuan
The Control Yuan , one of the five branches of the Republic of China government in Taipei, is an investigatory agency that monitors the other branches of government...
Yuans, are now the functions of the Legislative Yuan
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...
.
After the 1991 passage of constitutional reforms, there was strong objection to the new form of the Assembly, which had essentially become a permanent constitutional convention. Because of this, in 2000 the National Assembly was suspended. From 2000 to 2005, the 300 assembly members were selected ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
on the basis of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
by a special election within six months of proposal by the Legislative Yuan to amend the Constitution, impeach the president or vice president, or change national borders.
Abolition
On August 23, 2004, the Legislative Yuan passed a series of amendments that included abolishing the National Assembly. Based on these proposals, amendments are to be approved from three-fourths of the quorum of members of the Legislative Yuan. This quorum requires at least three-fourths of all members of the Legislature. After a mandatory 180-day promulgation period, the amendments are then to be ratified by at least fifty percent of all eligible voters of the ROC irrespective of voter turnout. A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposal authorizing citizens initiative rights to propose constitutional amendments was withdrawn after it became clear that such a proposal would not pass the Legislative Yuan. Opponents of such constitutional reforms argued that by eliminating the 3/4 legislative vote requirement, a relatively small number of voters could force a referendumReferendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence
Taiwan 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 trigger a crisis with the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , 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...
. By contrast, keeping the 3/4 legislative vote requirement would mean that any constitutional amendment would require a consensus among both the pan-green coalition
Pan-Green Coalition
The 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...
and pan-blue coalition
Pan-Blue Coalition
The 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...
to be considered. The requirement that a majority of all voters approve the amendment allows for a party to block an amendment by boycotting the vote as was done with the referendums voted on the March 2004 ROC Presidential elections.
Under the Constitution, the National Assembly must then be activated to ratify these amendments. Such ratification of the constitutional amendments was originally considered to be a formality, a number of unexpected complications occurred in 2005. The first was the poor showing of the People's First Party (PFP) in the 2004 Legislative Yuan election
ROC legislative election, 2004
The Election for the 6th 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 political...
. The PFP was widely expected to merge with the KMT, but PFP Chairman James Soong
James Soong
James Soong Chu-yu , 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....
became disenchanted by the idea. The second was the reluctance of the Taiwan Solidarity Union
Taiwan Solidarity Union
The Taiwan Solidarity Union is a political party in the Republic of China which advocates Taiwan independence. It was officially founded on July 24, 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-Green Coalition. Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party, its larger companion party in the Pan-Green...
to pass the amendments. These amendments were seen by some Taiwan independence supporters as a prelude to a later declaration of independence, but the results of the 2004 election made this very unlikely. Faced with this outcome, the TSU became very reluctant to support a reform that would make elections by small parties, such as itself harder.
One final unexpected outcome occurred which gave the National Assembly elections on May 14, 2005 more significance that was originally intended. The National Assembly election
ROC National Assembly election, 2005
An 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...
was lined up immediately after trips to mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland 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...
by KMT Chairman Lien Chan
Lien Chan
Lien Chan is a politician in Taiwan. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang from 2000 to 2005...
and PFP Chairman James Soong
James Soong
James Soong Chu-yu , 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....
. This had the effect of turning the May 14 elections into an opinion poll on relations with mainland China which was undesired by the Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party
The 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,...
, though the DPP subsequently gained a plurality in the elections.
On June 7, 2005, the 300 delegates voted (by a majority of 249 to 48) the constitutional amendments into effect, and so effectively abolished the National Assembly.