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All 3,045 votes of theNational Assembly 1,523 votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||
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The1948 Chinese presidential election was held on April 20, 1948, at theNational Assembly House inNanjing. The election was conducted by theNational Assembly to elect thepresident andvice president ofChina. This was the first election under the newly adopted 1947Constitution of the Republic of China, and the last prior to theretreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan following their loss in the Civil War the following year.[1]
This indirect election was held during theChinese Civil War.Chiang Kai-shek, the incumbent leader of theNationalist government, won a landslide victory against the same party candidateJu Zheng in the presidential election. However,Sun Fo, Chiang's preferred vice-presidential candidate, was defeated by GeneralLi Zongren in the vice-presidential elections.
Chiang and Li were inaugurated at thePresidential Palace inNanjing on May 20, 1948. This also marked the transition ofNationalist government to theconstitutional government.
After theNorthern Expedition, theKuomintang-ledNationalist government acquired control of a unifiedChina nominally. The party began to draft a constitution to transit the government from tutelage period to constitutional period, according to the political philosophy ofSun Yat-sen.
During theSecond Sino-Japanese War,China established a close partnership with theUnited States and was given military and financial supports.George Marshall was appointed ambassador toChongqing, the wartime capital, as to broker a negotiation between theKuomintang (Nationalist Party) andCommunist Party after the war. Two parties agreed to rebuild the country with democratization and military nationalization.
Simultaneously, theNationalist government continued to draft theConstitution of the Republic of China, however it was boycotted by the Communists and the full-scaleChinese Civil War was resumed.
The election was conducted by theNational Assembly in its meeting placeNational Assembly House inNanjing. There were 2,961 delegates elected during the1947 Chinese National Assembly election for the 3,045 seats. In total, there were 2,859 delegates reported to the secretariat to attend this first session of the first National Assembly.[2]
The election regulations had a 50% requirement for thepresident andvice president to be elected. Since there were 3,045 seats in theNational Assembly, the candidates needed to obtain 1,523 votes to be elected. This requirement could be relieved if no candidate passed this threshold in the first three rounds of voting.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiang Kai-shek | Kuomintang | 2,430 | 90.03 | |
| Ju Zheng | Kuomintang | 269 | 9.97 | |
| Total | 2,699 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 2,699 | 98.72 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 35 | 1.28 | ||
| Total votes | 2,734 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 3,045 | 89.79 | ||
| Source: Schafferer[3] | ||||
| Party | Candidate | First round | Second round | Third round | Fourth round | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Li Zongren | Kuomintang | 754 | 27.30 | 1,163 | 42.69 | 1,156 | 42.64 | 1,438 | 52.62 | |
| Sun Fo | Kuomintang | 559 | 20.24 | 945 | 34.69 | 1,040 | 38.36 | 1,295 | 47.38 | |
| Cheng Qian | Kuomintang | 522 | 18.90 | 616 | 22.61 | 515 | 19.00 | |||
| Yu Youren | Kuomintang | 493 | 17.85 | |||||||
| Mo Teh-hui | Independent | 218 | 7.89 | |||||||
| Xu Fulin | China Democratic Socialist Party | 216 | 7.82 | |||||||
| Total | 2,762 | 100.00 | 2,724 | 100.00 | 2,711 | 100.00 | 2,733 | 100.00 | ||
Vice President Candidates
There were someregime changes inChina during the first half of the 20th century. Depending on the definition, possible previous and next elections for the leader ofChina are listed below.
| Order | Election | Political entity | Title (term) | Electoral college |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | 1923 Chinese presidential election |  Republic of China (1912–1949) | President the Republic of China (3rd) | National Assembly (1st,Beiyang government) |
| 1943 Chinese chairmanship election |  Republic of China (1912–1949) | Chairman of theNationalist government (4th) | Central Committee ofKuomintang | |
| Next | 1949 Chinese chairmanship election |  People's Republic ofChina | Chairman of the Central People's Government | Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference |
| 1954 Chinese presidential election | Republic of China (onTaiwan) | President the Republic of China (2nd) | National Assembly (1st,Constitutional government) |
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary elections | |
| Provincial elections | |
| Local elections | |
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