Important Moments in History - Taiwan Chapter ① / 1996: Taiwan's First Direct Presidential Election / 'No Politics'

On March 23, 1996, Taiwan held its first direct election for President and Vice President. On this day, voters went to polling stations and decided the nation's top leader with their ballots, ending the long-standing system where the National Assembly indirectly elected the president. Looking back at the background, the 'Constitution of the Republic of China' promulgated in 1947 originally designed the president to be elected by the National Assembly. After the Kuomintang government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, the martial law regime continued for decades, with central legislative representatives not being re-elected for a long time, and presidential elections also being conducted indirectly by National Assembly delegates. Following the lifting of martial law in 1987, the termination of the mobilization for suppressing rebellion in 1991, and the full re-election of the National Assembly in 1992, the method of presidential election became a core issue for constitutional reform. In 1994, the National Assembly passed amendments to the constitution, stipulating that the president would be directly elected by the people, adopting a relative majority system. There were four candidate pairs in the first direct election: the KMT's Lee Teng-hui and Lien Chan, the DPP's Peng Ming-min and Hsieh Chang-ting, the New Party's Lin Yang-kang and Hau Pei-tsun, and independents Chen Lu-an and Wang Ching-feng. During the election campaign, mainland China conducted missile exercises and military intimidation in the Taiwan Strait from 1995 to 1996, and the United States dispatched aircraft carrier battle groups through the Taiwan Strait. The external pressure instead made the election a focus of international attention and stimulated discussions on democratic processes within Taiwanese society. The election results saw Lee Teng-hui and Lien Chan elected with 54% of the vote, and the turnout was about 76%. Supporters viewed this as a milestone in democratic consolidation, believing the principle of popular sovereignty was concretely realized. Critics, however, pointed out that the relative majority system might lead to insufficient legitimacy for the elected officials, and the national