The Legislative Yuan is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(Taiwan) located in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the

Taiwan Area The free area of the Republic of China, also known as the "Taiwan Area of the Republic of China", "Tai-Min Area (Taiwan and Fujian)" or simply the "Taiwan Area", is a term used by the government of the Republic of China (ROC) to refer to ...

through a

parallel voting Parallel voting is a type of mixed electoral system in which representatives are voted into a single chamber using two or more different systems, most often first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) with party-list proportional representation (PR). It ...

system. Originally located in

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, the Legislative Yuan, along with the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

(electoral college) and the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislati ...

(upper house), formed the

tricameral Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted with unicameralism and bicameralism, each of which is far more common. Varieties of tricameralism A disputed type of tricameralism is one whe ...

parliament under the original 1947 Constitution. The Legislative Yuan previously had 759 members representing each constituencies of all

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, Outer Mongolia and various professions. Until democratization, the Republic of China was an authoritarian state under

Dang Guo ''Dang Guo'' ( zh, t=黨國, p=Dǎngguó, l=party-state) was the one-party system adopted by the Republic of China under the Kuomintang. It was from 1924 onwards, after Sun Yat-sen acknowledged the efficacy of the nascent Soviet Union's politi ...

, the Legislative Yuan had alternatively been characterized as a

rubber stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubbe ...

for the then-ruling regime of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

. Like

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

s or

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

es of other countries, the Legislative Yuan is responsible for the passage of

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

, which is then sent to the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

for signing. For these similarities, it is also common for people to refer to the Legislative Yuan as "the parliament" (). Under the current amended Constitution and in accordance with the

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

, the Legislative Yuan, as the only parliamentary body, also holds the power to initiate several constitutional processes, including initiating constitutional amendments (then determined by a national referendum), recalls of the

(then determined by a recall vote), and

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

s of the

(then tried by the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

Composition

Legislators

Starting with the 2008 legislative elections, changes were made to the Legislative Yuan in accordance with a constitutional amendment passed in 2005. The Legislative Yuan has 113 members serving four-year terms. The current Legislative Yuan was inaugurated on February 1, 2020 and its term expires on January 31, 2024. The 5 largest parties with 3 seats or more can form caucuses. If there are fewer than 5 such parties, legislators in other parties or with no party affiliation can form caucuses with at least 4 members.

Leadership

The ''President'' and ''Vice President'' of the Legislative Yuan are elected by the 113 legislators during a preparatory session in the beginning of their 4-year terms. ''President'' and ''Vice President'' of the Legislative Yuan sometimes translate to ''speaker'' and ''deputy speaker'' respectively in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Functions

Powers

s or

es of other countries, the Legislative Yuan holds the following power according to the current amended Constitution * make laws and approve national budget, treaties, and emergency decrees issued by the President * review executive decrees * interpellation of government officials * initiate

no-confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

s against the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

* approve appointments to the

Examination Yuan The Examination Yuan is the civil service commission branch, in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants, of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a president, a vice president, and seven to nine members, al ...

, the

, the Grand Justices, the

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

, the Public Prosecutor General, the

National Communications Commission The National Communications Commission (NCC; ) is an independent statutory agency of Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) responsible for regulating the development of the telecommunication and broadcasting industries, promoting compe ...

, the Fair Trade Commission and the Central Election Commission, * initiate the recall of the

or the

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, and the impeachment of the President or the Vice President * initiate constitutional amendments, which must be referred to a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

Other governmental organs are authorized to propose legislative bills to the Legislative Yuan. Legislative bills proposed to the Legislative Yuan have to be cosigned by a certain number of legislators. Once a bill reaches the legislature, it is subject to a process of three readings.

Committees

* Standing Committees ** Internal Administration Committee ** Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee ** Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee ** Transportation Committee ** Education and Culture Committee ** Finance Committee ** Economics Committee ** Foreign and National Defense Committee * Ad Hoc Committees ** Procedure Committee ** Expenditure Examination Committee ** Constitutional Amendment Committee ** Discipline Committee

History

Constitutional theory

The concept of Legislative Yuan was introduced by

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's ''

Three Principles of the People The Three Principles of the People (; also translated as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, or Tridemism) is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China made during the Republican Era. ...

''. The theory proposed a

into five branches (). The Legislative Yuan, under Sun's political theory, is a branch of government elected by the

that serves as the standing legislative body when the

is not in session. The legislators are to be elected through direct elections. In the constitution, Legislative Yuan, together with

and

, form three chambers of a

tricameral parliament The Tricameral Parliament, officially the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, was the legislature of South Africa between 1984 and 1994, established by the South African Constitution of 1983, which gave a limited political voice to ...

according to the Judicial Yuan's interpretation number 76 of the Constitution (1957). However, the later constitutional amendments in the 1990s removed the parliamentary roles from

and

and transferred them to the Legislative Yuan, which became an

unicameral parliament Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

Establishment and relocation to Taiwan

Legislative Yuan (1928) in Nanjing, Nov 2017

Former Legislative Yuan & Control Yuan in Nanjing 2011-10

The original Legislative Yuan was formed in the original capital of

after the completion of the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

. Its 51 members were appointed to a term of two years. The 4th Legislative Yuan under this period had its members expanded to 194, and its term in office was extended to 14 years because of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

(1937–45). According to KMT political theory, these first four sessions marked the period of political tutelage. The current

Constitution of the Republic of China The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, ...

came into effect on 25 December 1947, and the first Legislative session convened in Nanking on 18 May 1948, with 760 members. Six preparatory meetings had been held on 8 May 1948, during which

Sun Fo Sun Fo or Sun Ke (; 21 October 1891 – 13 September 1973), courtesy name Zhesheng (), was a high-ranking official in the government of the Republic of China. He was the son of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China, and his fir ...

and

Chen Li-fu Chen Lifu or Ch'en Li-fu (; 21 August 1900 – 8 February 2001) was a Chinese politician and anti-communist of the Republic of China. Chen was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang, China (modern Huzhou). In 1925, Chen formally joined Kuomintang (KMT) in ...

were elected president and vice president of the body. In 1949, the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

fell to the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and the Legislative Yuan (along with the entire ROC government) was transplanted to

. On 24 February 1950, 380 members convened at the Sun Yat-sen Hall in Taipei. The first Legislative Yuan was to have been elected for a term of three years ending in 1951; however, the fall of

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

made it impossible to hold new elections. Joel S. Fetzer, J Christopher Soper, Confucianism
Democratization, and Human Rights in Taiwan
p 58, Lexington Books, 15 October 2012. As a result, the Judicial Yuan decided that the members of the Legislative Yuan would continue to hold office until new elections could be held on the Mainland. This decision was made in the belief that the KMT would retake the Mainland in a short time. However, over the years, as the prospect of regaining the Mainland diminished, this meant that the legislators from mainland districts (and members of the ruling KMT) held their seats for life, in a one-party system. The body thus came to be called "the Non-reelected Congress". Over the years, deceased members elected on the mainland were not replaced while additional seats were created for

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

starting with eleven seats in 1969. Fifty-one new members were elected to a three-year term in 1972, fifty-two in 1975, ninety-seven in 1980, ninety-eight in 1983, one hundred in 1986, and one hundred thirty in 1989. Although the elected members of the Legislative Yuan did not have the majority to defeat legislation, they were able to use the Legislative Yuan as a platform to express

political dissent Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Expressions of dissent may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence.Tangwai The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Leg ...

("outside the party"), and in 1985 candidates began to run under the banner of the

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...

Democratization

The members of the Legislative Yuan with extended terms remained until 31 December 1991, when as part of subsequent Judicial Yuan ruling they were forced to retire and the members elected in 1989 remained until the 161 members of the Second Legislative Yuan were elected in December 1992. The third LY, elected in 1995, had 157 members serving 3-year terms. The fourth LY, elected in 1998, was expanded to 225 members in part to include legislators from the abolished provincial legislature of

Taiwan Province Taiwan Province (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ, PFS: ''Thòi-vàn-sén'' or ''Thòi-vân-sén'') is a nominal Administrative divisions of Taiwan, administrative division of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). Its definition has remained part of the Constit ...

. The Legislative Yuan greatly increased its prominence after the 2000 Presidential elections in Taiwan when the

and

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

was controlled by the

while the Legislative Yuan had a large majority of

members. The legislative elections in late 2001 produced a contentious situation in which the

pan-blue coalition The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and You ...

has only a thin majority over the governing

pan-green coalition The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union ...

in the legislature, making the passage of bills often dependent on the votes of a few defectors and independents. Because of the party situation there have been constitutional conflicts between the Legislative Yuan and the executive branch over the process of appointment for the premier and whether the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

has the power to call a special session. Amid 70% public support, the Legislative Yuan voted 217–1 on 23 August 2004 for a package of amendments to: * Halve the number of seats from 225 to 113 * Switch to a single-member district

electoral system * Increase the terms of members from 3 to 4 years, to synchronize the legislative and presidential elections. (The change was implemented for the next election cycle, as the

legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was held in January 2008, and the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

followed in March.) The new electoral system installed in 2008 includes 73 plurality seats (one for each electoral district), 6 seats for aboriginals, with the remaining 34 seats to be filled from

party lists An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

. Every county has a minimum of 1 electoral district, thereby guaranteed at least one seat in the legislature, while half of the proportionally represented seats drawn from party lists must be women. Additionally, the Legislative Yuan proposed to abolish the National Assembly. Future amendments would still be proposed by the LY by a three-fourths vote from a quorum of at least three-fourths of all members of the Legislature. After a mandatory 180-day promulgation period, the amendment would have to be ratified by an absolute majority of ''all'' eligible voters of the ROC ''irrespective'' of voter turnout. The latter requirement would allow a party to kill a referendum proposal by asking that their voters boycott the vote as was done by the KMT with the referendums associated with the 2004 Presidential Election. A DPP proposal to allow the citizens the right to initiate constitutional referendums was pulled off the table, due to a lack of support. The proposal was criticized for dangerously lowering the threshold for considering a constitutional amendment. Whereas a three-fourths vote of the LY would require that any proposed constitutional amendment have a broad political consensus behind it, a citizen's initiative would allow a fraction of the electorate to force a constitutional referendum. It was feared that allowing this to occur would result in a referendum on Taiwan independence which would likely result in a crisis with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The Legislative Yuan also proposed to give itself the power to summon the president for an annual "state of the nation" address and launch a

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...

of the president and vice president (proposed by one fourth and approved by two thirds of the legislators and be submitted to a nationwide referendum for approval or rejection by majority vote). The Legislative Yuan will also have the power to propose the

of the president or vice president to the Council of Grand Justices. An ''ad hoc'' National Assembly was elected and formed in 2005 to ratify the amendments. The downsized Legislative Yuan took effect after the 2008 elections. On 20 July 2007, the Legislative Yuan passed a

Lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

Act.

Elections and terms

The

-led

government of the Republic of China The Government of the Republic of China, is the national government of the Republic of China whose ''de facto'' territory currently consists of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other island groups in the "free area". Governed by the ...

retreated to

in 1949, the year following the first legislative elections (1948) after the enactment of the 1947 constitution. As the

government continues to claim sovereignty over

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

, the term of the original legislators was extended until "re-election is possible in their original

electoral districts An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

." In response to the increasing democracy movement in

, limited supplementary elections were held in

starting from 1969 and parts of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

from 1972. Legislators elected in these supplementary elections served together with those who were elected in 1948. This situation remained until a Constitutional Court ( Judicial Yuan) ruling on 21 June 1991 that ordered the retirement of all members with extended terms by the end of 1991. Timeline of Legislative Yuan elections and terms ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = right:80 left:100 bottom:60 top:10 DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1948 till:01/01/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal Legend = orientation:vertical Colors = id:gridmajor value:gray(0.2) id:gridminor value:gray(0.9) id:chn value:redorange legend:Elected_in_mainland_China_and_Taiwan id:spp value:gray(0.5) legend:Supplementary_members_elected_in_Taiwan id:twn value:oceanblue legend:Elected_in_Taiwan_after_1991_constitution ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gridmajor unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1950 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gridminor unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1948 BarData = bar:1st text:1st bar:sp0 text:1st, supp bar:sp1 text:1st, 1st supp bar:sp2 text:1st, 2nd supp bar:sp3 text:1st, 3rd supp bar:sp4 text:1st, 4th supp bar:sp5 text:1st, 5th supp bar:sp6 text:1st, 6th supp bar:2nd text:2nd bar:3rd text:3rd bar:4th text:4th bar:5th text:5th bar:6th text:6th bar:7th text:7th bar:8th text:8th bar:9th text:9th bar:10th text:10th PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:till fontsize:m bar:1st from: 05/18/1948 till: 12/31/1991 color:chn text:759 seats (1948) bar:sp0 from: 02/01/1970 till: 12/31/1991 color:spp text:11 seats bar:sp1 from: 02/01/1973 till: 01/31/1976 color:spp text:51 seats bar:sp2 from: 02/01/1976 till: 01/31/1981 color:spp text:52 seats bar:sp3 from: 02/01/1981 till: 01/31/1984 color:spp text:97 seats bar:sp4 from: 02/01/1984 till: 01/31/1987 color:spp text:98 seats bar:sp5 from: 02/01/1987 till: 01/31/1990 color:spp text:100 seats bar:sp6 from: 02/01/1990 till: 01/31/1993 color:spp text:130 seats bar:2nd from: 02/01/1993 till: 01/31/1996 color:twn text:161 seats bar:3rd from: 02/01/1996 till: 01/31/1999 color:twn text:163 seats bar:4th from: 02/01/1999 till: 01/31/2002 color:twn text:225 seats bar:5th from: 02/01/2002 till: 01/31/2005 color:twn text:225 seats bar:6th from: 02/01/2005 till: 01/31/2008 color:twn text:225 seats bar:7th from: 02/01/2008 till: 01/31/2012 color:twn text:113 seats bar:8th from: 02/01/2012 till: 01/31/2016 color:twn text:113 seats bar:9th from: 02/01/2016 till: 01/31/2020 color:twn text:113 seats bar:10th from: 02/01/2020 till: 01/31/2024 color:twn text:113 seats The legislature had 225 members during the 4th, 5th, and 6th terms. Legislators were elected as follows: * 168 were elected by popular vote through single non-transferable vote in multi-member consistencies. * 41 were elected on the basis of the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties. * 8 were allocated for overseas citizens and were selected by the parties on the basis of the proportion of votes received nationwide. * 8 seats were reserved for the indigenous populations. Since the 7th term, the 113 legislators are elected to office as follows: *73 are elected under the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

system in single-member constituencies. *34 are elected under the

supplementary member Parallel voting is a type of mixed electoral system in which representatives are voted into a single chamber using two or more different systems, most often first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) with party-list proportional representation (PR). It i ...

system on a second ballot, based on nationwide votes, and calculated using the

largest remainder method The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with variou ...

by the Hare quota. Any party which receives 5% or more of the party vote can enter the parliament. For each party, at least half of the legislators elected under this system must be female. *6 seats are elected by

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

voters through single non-transferable vote in two three-member constituencies.

Composition by term

The

(KMT) held a supermajority of seats in the Legislative Yuan between 1948 and 1991, while some seats were held by the

Chinese Youth Party The Young China Party (YCP), also known as the Chinese Youth Party (CYP), is a minor political party in Taiwan (Republic of China). It was one of the three legal political parties in Taiwan during the martial law period from 1949 to 1987, the ...

(CYP) and the

China Democratic Socialist Party The China Democratic Socialist Party (CDSP; ) was a Chinese political party founded in Shanghai on 14 August 1946. It was formed through the merger of the former Chinese National Socialist Party (; their preferred shorthand name was "Socialists ...

(CDSP). Through the limited supplementary elections held in since the 1970s, the

Tangwai movement The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Leg ...

saw their share of seats increase. Most members in the

joined the

(DPP) after its founding in the late 1980s.

Issues

Protests and occupation

On 18 March 2014, the Legislative Yuan was

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by protesting students.

Legislative violence

Much of the work of the Legislative Yuan is done via legislative committees, and a common sight on Taiwanese television involves officials of the executive branch answering extremely hostile questions from opposition members in committees. In the 1990s, there were a number of cases of violence breaking out on the floor, usually triggered by some perceived unfair procedure ruling, but in recent years, these have become less common. There was a brawl involving 50 legislators in January 2007 and an incident involving 40 legislators on 8 May 2007 when a speaker attempted to speak about reconfiguring the Central Election Committee. It has been alleged that fights are staged and planned in advance. These antics led the scientific humor magazine '' Annals of Improbable Research'' to award the Legislative Yuan its Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 "for demonstrating that politicians gain more by punching, kicking and gouging each other than by waging war against other nations". On 29 June 2020 more than 20 lawmakers affiliated with the

took over the legislature over night, blocking entry to the main chamber with chains and chairs, saying the government was trying to force through legislation and demanding the president withdraw the nomination of a close aide to a high-level watchdog.

lawmakers forced themselves in while there were scuffles and shouting with

lawmakers.

Building

The current Legislative Yuan building in Taipei, was formerly the constructed during the Japanese colonial rule since 1960 with the administrative offices previously a dormitory. Over the years, there were several proposals to relocate the Legislative Yuan. The 1990 proposal to move the legislature to the location of the defunct Huashan station, was passed in 1992, then abandoned after the budget was cut. A second proposal in 1999 suggested that the legislature move to what had previously served as Air Force Command Headquarters. This proposition was opposed by the

Taipei City Council Taipei City Council () is the city council of Taipei, Taiwan. One of the largest local councils in Taiwan, the city council is currently composed of 63 councillors, all elected lately in the 2018 Taiwanese local elections. Composition T ...

and funds for disaster relief became a priority after the Jiji earthquake. Other relocation proposals include moving the parliament to Taichung,

New Taipei New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest s ...

Changhua County Changhua County ( Mandarin Pinyin: ''Zhānghuà Xiàn''; Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴ Hsien⁴''; Hokkien POJ: ''Chiang-hòa-koān'' or ''Chiong-hòa-koān'') is the smallest county on the main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth small ...

, or Yilan County. In 2022, graduate students from several Taiwanese universities were invited to submit designs for a new building.

Gallery

File:中華民國立法院 (議場内) Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (chamber, interior).jpg, The chamber of the Legislative Yuan. File:Legislative Yuan (0212).JPG, Legislative Yuan building. File:立法委員游錫堃.jpg,

Yu Shyi-kun You Si-kun (; born 25 April 1948), also romanized Yu Shyi-kun, is a Taiwanese politician serving as a member and the president of the Legislative Yuan. He was one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and is know ...

, the current

President of the Legislative Yuan The president of the Legislative Yuan is the presiding officer of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The incumbent president is Yu Shyi-kun, a Democratic Progressive Party legislator and the second DPP President of the Legislative ...

. File:Wang Jin-pyng, President of the Legislative Yuan (7172294519).jpg,

Wang Jin-pyng Wang Jin-pyng (; born March 17, 1941) is a Taiwanese politician. He served as President of the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2016, which makes him Taiwan's longest-serving legislative speaker. Once a leading figure of the Kuomintang (KMT), Wang ...

, the longest-serving

Notes

References

External links

* {{Coord, 25.0439, N, 121.5195, E, source:wikidata, display=title

Taiwanese Members of the Legislative Yuan 1928 establishments in China 1945 establishments in Taiwan