Politics of The Republic of China - Political Parties and Elections

Political Parties and Elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in the Republic of China. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in the Republic of China.

e • d Summary of the 22 March 2008 Republic of China presidential election results

Party		Candidate		Votes	Percentage
		President	Vice president
	Kuomintang	Ma Ying-jeou	Vincent Siew Wan-chang	7,659,014	58.45%
	Democratic Progressive Party	Frank Hsieh Chang-ting	Su Tseng-chang	5,444,949	41.55%
Total				13,103,963	100.00%

e • d Summary of the 20 March 2004 Republic of China presidential election results

Candidates and nominating parties	Votes	%		Votes before recount
Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu Hsiu-lien Democratic Progressive Party (Pan-Green Coalition)	6,446,900	50.11		6,471,970
Lien Chan and James Soong Chu-yu Kuomintang / People First Party (Pan-Blue Coalition)	6,423,906	49.89		6,442,452
Total (turnout 80.28 %)	12,914,422	100.0
Invalid votes	337,297
Votes cast	13,251,719

Main article: ROC presidential election, 2004

Parties		Constituency and Aboriginal				Party list			Total seats
		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Outgoing	%	Incoming	%	+/−
	Kuomintang registration	5,291,512	53.5	+20.7	61	5,010,801	51.2	20	90	40.0	81	71.7	+31.7
	Kuomintang				54			17	85		71
	People First Party co-nomination				5			3	-		8
	New Party endorsement				2			-	5		2
	Non-Partisan Solidarity Union	239,317	2.4	-1.2	3	68,527	0.7	0	8	3.6	3	2.7	-0.9
	People First Party	28,254	0.3	-13.3	1	-	-	-	20	8.9	1	0.9	-8.0
	New Party	-	-	(-0.1)	-	386,660	4.0	0	-	-	0	0	-
	Pan-Blue coalition	5,559,083	56.2	+5.7	65	5,465,988	55.9	20	118	52.4	85	75.2	+22.8
	Democratic Progressive Party	3,775,352	38.2	+2.5	13	3,610,106	36.9	14	90	40.0	27	23.9	-16.1
	Taiwan Solidarity Union	93,840	0.9	-6.9	0	344,887	3.5	0	7	3.1	0	0	-3.1
	Taiwan Constitution Association	3,926	<0.1		0	30,315	0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Pan-Green coalition	3,863,118	39.1	-4.4	13	3,954,993	40.7	14	97	43.1	27	23.9	-19.2
	Home Party	6,355	<0.1		0	77,870	0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Green Party Taiwan	14,767	0.1		0	58,473	0.6	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Taiwan Farmers' Party	8,681	<0.1		0	57,144	0.6	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Civil Party	6,562	<0.1		0	48,192	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Third Society Party	10,057	0.1		0	45,594	0.5	0	1	0.4	0	0	-0.4
	Hakka Party	8,860	<0.1		0	42,004	0.4	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Independents	393,346	4.0	-1.9	1	-	-	-	1	0.4	1	0.9	+0.5
	Vacant	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	3.6	-	-	-
	Total	10,050,619	-	-	-	10,076,239	-	-	225	100	113	100	-

Main article: ROC legislative election, 2008

In May 2005, a new National Assembly was elected to reduce the number of parliamentary seats and implement several constitutional reforms. These reforms have been passed; the National Assembly has essentially voted to abolish itself and transfer the power of constitutional reform to the popular ballot.

e • d Summary of the 14 May 2005 Republic of China National Assembly election results

Parties	Votes	Percentage (%)		Seats
Parties in favor of the amendments				249
Democratic Progressive Party	1,647,791	42.52		127
Kuomintang	1,508,384	38.92		117
___ Chinese People's Party	41,940	1.08		3
___ Peasant Party	15,516	0.40		1
___ Civil Party	8,609	0.22		1
Parties not in favor of the amendments				51
Taiwan Solidarity Union	273,147	7.05		21
People First Party	236,716	6.11		18
___ 150 persons union led by Jhang Ya Jhong	65,081	1.68		5
New Party	34,253	0.88		3
Non-Partisan Solidarity Union	25,162	0.65		2
Taiwan Independence Party	11,500	0.30		1
___ 20 persons union led by Wang Ting Sing	7,499	0.19		1
Total (turnout )				300

Main article: ROC National Assembly election, 2005

As of November 2004, there are 108 officially registered parties in the Republic of China. Other parties than the parties listed above include:

• Taiwan Number One Party
• New Nation Association
• Democratic Alliance
• Natural Law Party
• Taiwan Independence Party
• Green Party Taiwan
• Non-Party Alliance
• Farmers' Party
• Chinese Liberal Democratic Party
• Labor Party
• Chinese Youth Party
• Third Society Party

The aftermath of the 2000 Presidential election and the 2001 legislative election left the ROC fragmented among several political parties. These parties can be divided into "blue" factions (Pan-Blue Coalition) and "green" factions (Pan-Green Coalition), with the "blue" faction tending toward unification and a national identity that is linked with China and the "green" faction leaning toward a national identity based on Taiwan independence which is separate from the Chinese national identity. The complex structure of the party system in the ROC was also influenced by the voting system which uses single non-transferable vote for legislative elections and first past the post for executive elections. Starting with the 2008 legislative elections, the SNTV system was discarded in favor of a mixed single member district (SMD) with proportional representation based on national party votes, similar to Japan.

The "blue" faction comes from the color of the Kuomintang and includes the Kuomintang, the People First Party, and the New Party. The "green" faction comes from the color of the Democratic Progressive Party and includes the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

Kuomintang (Nationalist Party)

Until 1986, the ROC's political system was effectively controlled by one party, the KMT, the leader of which also was the ROC president. Many top political officials were members of the party. The party claimed over 2 million members, and its net assets were reputed to total more than NT $61.2 billion, making it the richest political party in the world.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)

After 1986, the KMT's hold on power was challenged by the emergence of competing political parties. Before 1986, candidates opposing the KMT ran in elections as independents or "nonpartisans." Before the 1986 island-wide elections many "nonpartisans" grouped together to create Taiwan's first opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Despite the official ban on forming new political parties, the ROC authorities did not prohibit the DPP from operating, and in the 1986 elections DPP and independent candidates captured more than 20% of the vote.

The Civic Organizations Law passed in 1989 allowed for the formation of new political parties, thereby legalizing the DPP, and its support and influence increased. In the 1992 Legislative Yuan elections, the DPP won 51 seats in the 161-seat body. While this was only half the number of KMT seats, it made the DPP's voice an important factor in legislative decisions. Winning the Taipei mayor's position in December 1994, significantly enhanced the DPP's image. The DPP continued its strong showing in the 1995 LY race, winning 45 of the 157 seats to the KMT's 81. The DPP for the first time succeeded in outpolling the KMT in the November 1997 local elections, gaining 12 of the 23 magistrate and mayoral seats as opposed to the KMT's 8 and winning 43% of the vote versus the KMT's 41%.

The DPP membership is made up largely of the Hoklo people, the largest ethnic group in Taiwan. The DPP maintains that Taiwan is an entity separate from mainland China and supports an independent "Republic of Taiwan" as part of its platform. The recent downplaying of Taiwan independence by the DPP as a party, however, led to the formation by hard-line advocates of a new political party called the Taiwan Independence Party in December 1996.

New Party (NP)

The New Party was formed in August 1993 by a group made up largely of second-generation mainlander KMT members who were unhappy both with corruption in the KMT and with what they saw as the "Taiwanization" of KMT ideology and leadership. The NP emphasizes "clean government" and the original KMT focus on unification with mainland China. NP influence remains modest and seems on the wane; it won 21 of the 164 LY seats in the 1995 elections but only 11 of 225 seats in 1998. The New Party was almost annihilated in the 2001 election as its members defected to the Peoples First Party.

People's First Party (PFP)

A new opposition party was formed in the wake of the March 2000 presidential election by the runner up, a KMT maverick candidate. The People's First Party is composed primarily of former KMT and NP members who supported former KMT Taiwan Provincial Governor James Soong's presidential bid. The PFP currently had 17 members in the LY before the 2001 election, but increased its representation to over 40 in that election.

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU)

In 2001, supporters of former President Lee founded the Taiwanese Solidarity Union (TSU). Even though Lee did not join this party, he is named its spiritual leader and most believe he endorsed it. The TSU was formed primarily because, as it took power, the DPP had to moderate its standing as regards to Taiwan independence, leaving a hole in the Taiwanese political spectrum. In a bid to help the "green" side achieve control in the Legislative Yuan, the TSU was formed to attract the radical votes left over from DPP and the localist support for KMT. The TSU had often expressed that it wanted to be the "decisive minority".

Although some friction between mainlanders and native Taiwanese still exists, it has abated with time, and there has been a gradual melding of the two communities. In 1972, then-Premier Chiang Ching-kuo began a concentrated effort to bring Taiwanese into more senior position in the central administration and the KMT. Upon his accession to the presidency in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui, who is a native Taiwanese, continued this process. Steps by the government to redress past wrongs such as setting up a memorial to the victims of the February 28 Incident have contributed to this process.