Constitutional theory The concept of Legislative Yuan was introduced by
Sun Yat-sen's
Three Principles of the People. The theory proposed a
separation of powers into five branches (). The Legislative Yuan, under Sun's political theory, is a branch of government elected by the
National Assembly that serves as the standing legislative body when the National Assembly is not in session. The legislators are to be elected through
direct elections. In the constitution, Legislative Yuan, together with National Assembly and
Control Yuan, form three chambers of a
tricameral parliament 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 National Assembly and Control Yuan and transferred them to the Legislative Yuan, which became an
unicameral parliament.
Establishment and relocation to Taiwan building in Nanjing, 1946–1949 (seen in 2011). The original Legislative Yuan was formed in the original capital of
Nanjing after the completion of the
Northern Expedition. 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 (1937–1945). According to KMT political theory, these first four sessions marked the period of
political tutelage. The current
Constitution of the Republic of China came into effect on 25 December 1947, and the first Legislative session convened in Nanjing on 18 May 1948, with 760 members. Six preparatory meetings had been held on 8 May 1948, during which
Sun Fo and
Chen Li-fu were elected president and vice president of the body. In 1949,
mainland China fell to the
Communist Party and the Legislative Yuan (along with the entire ROC government) was transplanted to
Taipei. 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 made it impossible to hold new elections. 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". 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 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
parallel voting 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 was held in January 2008, and the
presidential election 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. 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. 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 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
impeachment 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 Act. ==Elections and terms==