Taiwan’s First Direct Presidential Election
台灣首次總統直選
Source: 1996 ROC Presidential Direct Election
From: Wikipedia
Date: December 24, 2015. Author: Collaborative authors
On July 29, 1994 (Year 83 of the Republic), the National Assembly completed its third reading, passing the provision that “the method of electing the President shall be changed to direct election by all people in the free area of the Republic of China, to take effect from the ninth presidential/vice-presidential election in Year 85 (1996).” The ninth ROC presidential/vice-presidential election was held on March 23, 1996 — the first direct popular election of a president and vice president since the founding of the Republic of China, and the first such election after the end of the Period of Communist Rebellion Mobilisation. It was the second democratic direct election of a head of state in the Chinese-speaking world after Singapore’s 1993 presidential election, and the first in the cross-strait four regions. Four candidacies contested the election; despite defections from within the ruling KMT, with the Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis providing additional momentum, final voter turnout was 76.04%, and the KMT-nominated Lee Teng-hui and Lien Chan were elected, becoming Taiwan’s first popularly elected president and vice president. They were inaugurated on May 20 of the same year at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
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External Links
- The President under Missiles: The 1996 Direct Presidential Election (Wandering Teacher’s History Hall)
- Direct Presidential Election (Taiwan Encyclopedia)
- Taiwan Strait Crisis: A Turning Point in Cross-Strait Relations (Radio Taipei International)