1980 Taiwanese legislative election explained

The fourth supplementary elections for the National Assembly and Legislative Yuan were held in Taiwan on 6 December 1980.[1]

Background

Originally these elections were scheduled for December 1978. They were postponed after the United States terminated diplomatic relations with the Republic of China just days before the elections were planned. They were subsequently held in December 1980. President Chiang Ching-kuo made agreements with Tangwai leaders and other independent politicians so they could compete for seats with Kuomintang candidates. These elections were the first competitive elections for Taiwan on a national level.

Compared with the last supplementary elections in 1972 for the National Assembly and 1975 for the Legislative Yuan, the number of eligible seats for the National Assembly increased from 53 to 76 and for the Legislative Yuan from 52 to 97. Of these, 70 seats representing Taiwan Province and the special municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung were to be elected directly. The remaining 27 seats representing overseas nationals were chosen by the President.

Results

Turnout for both the supplementary elections of the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan was 66,4%. Of the newly elected members to the National Assembly, 61 belonged to the Kuomintang, one to 1 the Chinese Youth Party and 14 were independents. Of the 70 directly elected delegates to the Legislative Yuan, 56 belonged to the Kuomintang and 14 were independents. Of these independents 9 could be counted as belonging to the Tangwai movement. All chosen were born Taiwanese except for 14 (7 in each of the legislative bodies) who were born on the Mainland or from parents from the Mainland.

Legislative Yuan

By constituency

ConstituencySeatsElectorateTurnout%PartyVotes%Seats
won
Taipei City81,168,405758,11364.88Kuomintang520,57970.186
Chinese Youth Party12,0441.620
China Democratic Socialist Party1,0440.140
Independents208,10228.062
Kaohsiung City5571,795386,32067.56Kuomintang245,57764.944
Independents132,60535.061
Taiwan I81,437,965894,74562.22Kuomintang608,49669.895
Independents262,23930.113
Taiwan II61,072,170743,12469.31Kuomintang549,11976.225
Chinese Youth Party9,3381.300
Independents162,00922.481
Taiwan III91,586,5091,081,32568.16Kuomintang800,66976.668
Chinese Youth Party7,4550.710
Independents236,26322.631
Taiwan IV81,547,649955,25961.72Kuomintang603,11565.246
Chinese Youth Party6,7640.730
Independents314,50934.032
Taiwan V5906,545607,54367.02Kuomintang468,36879.624
Independents119,91720.381
Taiwan VI2233,791146,30262.59Kuomintang112,46979.472
China Democratic Socialist Party4,7723.370
Independents24,27817.160
Fujian120,46019,38494.74Kuomintang19,2281001
Highland Aborigine182,24760,41473.45Kuomintang58,8031001
Lowland Aborigine166,57042,75264.22Kuomintang40,6351001
Farmers4Kuomintang232,59579.714
Chinese Youth Party19,0576.530
Independents40,15013.760
Fishermen2Kuomintang72,6401002
Workers4Kuomintang249,67973.283
Chinese Youth Party3,2610.960
Independents87,79425.761
Industrial group2Kuomintang20,9471002
Business group2Kuomintang69,3641002
Education group2Kuomintang49,01898.292
Independents8551.710
Source: Dong

National Assembly

Further reading

Copper, John F. and George P. Chen (1984), Taiwan’s Elections. Political Development and Democratization in the Republic of China, [Baltimore, Md.], Occasional Papers/Reprints Series in Contemporary Asian Studies, no. 5-1984 (64),

Notes and References

  1. [Dieter Nohlen]