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National Assembly 國民大會 Guómín Dàhuì (Mandarin Pinyin) Kuo²-min² Ta⁴-hui⁴ (Wade-Giles) Kok-bîn Tāi-hōe (Taiwanese) Koet-mìn Thai-fi (Hakka)
Type
Type	Constitutional convention Presidentialelectoral college
History
Founded	29 March 1948; 77 years ago (1948-03-29)
Disbanded	Inmainland China: 1 October 1949; 76 years ago (1949-10-01) (Proclamation of the PRC,de facto) InTaiwan: 7 June 2005; 20 years ago (2005-06-07) (Constitution amended, subject to aSunset clause)
Preceded by	National Assembly (Beiyang government)
Succeeded by	Inmainland China: Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and laterNational People's Congress InTaiwan: Directpresidential elections,constitutional referendums,Legislative Yuan, and Constitutional Court ofJudicial Yuan
Seats	3,045(1947) 300(2005)
Elections
Voting system	Single non-transferable vote(1947–2000) Party-list proportional representation(2005)
First general election	21 November 1947; 78 years ago (1947-11-21)
Last general election	14 May 2005; 20 years ago (2005-05-14)
Meeting place
National Great Hall,Nanjing(1948) Zhongshan Hall,Taipei(1954–1966) Chung-Shan Building,Taipei(1972–2005)
Constitution
Additional Articles and the original Constitution of the Republic of China

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TheNational Assembly was the authoritative legislative body of theRepublic of China, from 1947 to 2005. Along with theControl Yuan (upper house) and theLegislative Yuan (lower house), the National Assembly formed thetricameral parliament of the Republic of China.

Similar to otherelectoral colleges, the National Assembly had elected thePresident andVice President under the 1947Constitution of the Republic of China with the role of theconstituent assembly that aimed to amend the country's constitution.

The first National Assembly was elected in November 1947 and met inNanjing in March 1948. However, in the next year, theKuomintang-ledgovernment of the Republic of China lostmainland China in theCivil War andretreated to Taiwan. The National Assembly resumed its meeting inTaipei in 1954. In the 1990s, its parliamentary powers were gradually transferred to theLegislative Yuan anddirect democracy exercised by thede factoresidents before constitutional amendments made it a dormant body in 2000 and dissolved it (subject to asunset clause) in 2005.

Calls for a National Assembly were part of the platform of therevolutionaries who ultimately overthrew theQing dynasty. In response, the Qing dynasty formed thefirst assembly in 1910, but it was virtually powerless and intended only as an advisory body. In the early Republican Era, thebicameral National Assembly was established by theBeiyang government. The design referred to the structure of theUnited States Congress as Senate (參議院) and House of Representatives (眾議院). However, theWarlord Era with the interference of military power toward the constitution suppressed the authority and the reputation of the National Assembly.

The Chinese social and political science review quoted the institution's English name asNational People's Congress during the drafting of constitution.^[1]

In 1946, theConstituent Assembly promulgated a new constitution and thefirst National Assembly met in 1948 inNanjing, the Chinese capital. Apart from the KMT, the only legal parties were theDemocratic Socialist Party and theYouth Party.

Under the constitution, the main duty of the National Assembly was to elect the President and Vice President for terms of six years. It also had the right to recall or impeach the President and Vice President if they failed to fulfill their political responsibilities. According to "National Assembly Duties Act", the National Assembly could amend the constitution with a two-thirds majority, with at least three-quarters membership present, as well as to ratify constitutional amendments proposed by deputies of theLegislative Yuan. It could also change territorial boundaries. The responsibilities of the deputies of the Assembly, as well as of the Assembly as a whole, were derived from the directions of Sun Yat-sen. At that time the NA served as a counterpart to theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, with a Presidium of the National Assembly governing over its activities.

• 
  The National Assembly in Nanjing in 1946
• 
  National Assembly Building inNanjing, the meeting place of the first session of the first National Assembly in 1948
• 
  Paifang outside the National Assembly Building inNanjing during the 1948 National Assembly session

In 1949, theChinese Communist Party won theChinese Civil War andmainland China became the People's Republic of China. The National Assembly (along with the entireROC government) wasrelocated toTaipei. The Assembly's right to legislate wasput into moratorium until at least half of all counties in the nation were again able to elect representatives via their County Assemblies.^{[citation needed]}

The first National Assembly was to serve for a period of only six years. However, according to theKuomintang (KMT) leadership, the fall of the Mainland made it impossible to hold new elections there, as all Mainland provinces were underCommunist rebellion. As a result, the Judicial Yuan decided that the original members of the National Assembly representing Communist-controlled constituencies mustcontinue to hold office until new elections could be held. National Assembly elections were still held interritories under ROC control.^{[citation needed]}

In accordance with the 76th interpretation of the 1947 Constitution by theJudicial Yuan in 1957, the NA formed part of a three-chambertricameral parliament together with the Legislative andControl Yuans^[2] and was the senior most chamber of parliament, with the latter two performing regular legislative work in the absence of the Assembly. During the years when it elected or recalled the president and vice president, it acted as an electoral college with all its county representatives serving as electors.

• 
  Zhongshan Hall, located in downtownTaipei, meeting place of the National Assembly between 1950 and 1966
• 
  Chung-Shan Building, located in theYangmingshan region ofTaipei, meeting place of the National Assembly from 1972 to its dissolution in 2005
• 
  Secretariat building of the National Assembly, downtownTaipei

As a result of this decision, the same National Assembly, elected in 1947, remained for 44 years until 1991, when as part of a constitutional ruling aSecond National Assembly was elected. There was strong objection to the Assembly, which was derisively called the "Ten-thousand-year Congress" by critics.

Shortly after passing constitutional reforms in 1991, the National Assembly held direct elections in December. Following a 1994 constitutional amendment, the Assembly essentially became a permanentconstituent assembly, as the Assembly's other major role, to elect the President and Vice President of the Republic of China, was abolished. Direct elections for the president, vice president, and Assembly were held simultaneously in March 1996. However, these reforms granted it new functions, such as hearing the president's State of the Nation Address and approving the president's nominations of the grand justices and the heads of theExamination and Control Yuans. Following the assembly's abolition, these functions are now in the hands of the Legislative Yuan.

In 1999, the Assembly passed constitutional amendments which would link its election and term with the Legislative Yuan. Part of these amendments' effect was to extend the term of both bodies, which was strongly criticized by the public. ThePeople First Party was founded shortly after the2000 presidential election. The two larger parties, the Kuomintang andDemocratic Progressive Party, wished to bar thePeople First Party (PFP) from the National Assembly. As a result, the 2000 National Assembly elections were canceled, and delegates were to be selectedad hoc on the basis ofproportional representation via special election within six months of the Legislative Yuan proposing constitutional amendments, calling for the impeachment of the president or vice president, or declaring a vote on changes to national borders. However, no such situation arose from 2000 to 2004, and the National Assembly never met during this period.

On 23 August 2004, the Legislative Yuan proposed a series of amendments that included dissolution of the National Assembly. The purpose of this proposal is to transfer power to ratify constitutional amendments and territorial amendments from the National Assembly to the people. Under the amendments, subsequent proposed amendments are to be approved by three-fourths of the present members in the Legislative Yuan, with at least three-fourths of all members present. It would then be promulgated for a period of 180 days and then submitted to a referendum, in which a simple majority of all eligible voters shall be sufficient to ratify the amendments. ADemocratic Progressive Party proposal authorizing citizens' initiative rights to propose constitutional amendments was withdrawn after it became clear that such a proposal would not pass the Legislative Yuan. Opponents of such constitutional reforms argued that by eliminating the 3/4 legislative vote requirement, a relatively small number of voters could force areferendum onTaiwan independence which would trigger a crisis with thePeople's Republic of China. By contrast, keeping the 3/4 legislative vote requirement would mean that any constitutional amendment would require a consensus among both thepan-green coalition andpan-blue coalition to be considered. The requirement that a majority of all voters approve the amendment allows for a party to block an amendment by boycotting the vote as was done with the referendums voted on alongside the March 2004 presidential elections.

Under the Constitution at the time, the National Assembly must then be elected to consider these amendments. Such consideration and eventual ratification of the constitutional amendments was originally considered to be a formality, but a number of unexpected complications occurred in 2005. The first was the poor showing of the People First Party (PFP) in the2004 Legislative Yuan election. The PFP was widely expected to merge with the KMT, but PFP ChairmanJames Soong became disenchanted by the idea. The second was the reluctance of theTaiwan Solidarity Union to pass the amendments. These amendments were seen by some Taiwan independence supporters as a prelude to a later declaration of independence, but the results of the 2004 election made this very unlikely. Faced with this outcome, the TSU became very reluctant to support a reform that would make elections by small parties such as itself harder.

Another unexpected event occurred which gave the National Assembly elections on 14 May 2005 more significance than had been intended: theelection was lined up immediately after trips to mainland China by KMT ChairmanLien Chan and PFP Chairman James Soong. This had the effect of turning the May 14 elections into an opinion poll on relations with mainland China which was undesired by the Democratic Progressive Party, though the DPP subsequently gained a plurality in the elections.

2005 Taiwanese National Assembly election result

Government		249		Opposition		51
	Democratic Progressive Party	127			Taiwan Solidarity Union	21
	Kuomintang	117			People First Party	18
	Chinese People's Party	3			Democratic Action Alliance [zh]	5
	Peasant Party	1			New Party	3
	Civil Party	1			Non-Partisan Solidarity Union	2
					Taiwan Independence Party	1
					Independent	1
Endorse the constitutional amendment				Oppose the constitutional amendment

On 7 June 2005, the 300 delegates voted (by a majority of 249 to 48) the constitutional amendments into effect, and so dissolved the National Assembly until the "unification of the country" as stated in the preamble.^[3]

The National Assembly held the most important constitutional powers within the national organs under the 1947constitution. All of its powers were transferred to the Legislative Yuan anddirect democracy exercised by thecitizens of thefree area after a series ofconstitutional amendments asAdditional Articles of the Constitution in the 1990s and early 2000s.

• Procedure for ratification of national territory alteration was changed to be proposed byLegislative Yuan and ratified by National Assembly elected after the proposal has been made in the 2000 amendment (6th), and then the final ratification power was transferred to thecitizens of thefree area in the 2005 amendment (7th).
• Power to electPresident and theVice President was transferred to thecitizens of thefree area in the 1992 amendment (2nd), and then further clarified to be in form of "direct election" in the 1994 amendment (3rd). SeePresidential elections in Taiwan.
• Procedure to recall thePresident and theVice President was changed to be proposed by the National Assembly and voted by thecitizens of thefree area in the 1994 amendment (3rd), and changed to be proposed by theLegislative Yuan and voted by thecitizens of thefree area in the 2000 amendment (6th).
• Procedure for ratification ofconstitutional amendment was changed to be proposed byLegislative Yuan and ratified by National Assembly elected after the proposal has been made in the 2000 amendment (6th), and then the final ratification power was transferred to thecitizens of thefree area in the 2005 amendment (7th).
• Procedure to impeach thePresident and theVice President was changed to be proposed by theLegislative Yuan and voted by the National Assembly in the 1997 amendment (4th), and the final decision power was moved to be judged by theJustices of theJudicial Yuan in Constitutional Court in the 2005 amendment (7th).

The series ofconstitutional amendments coined theAdditional Articles of the Constitution as the current fundamental law ofTaiwan. During the evolution of the Additional Articles, the National Assembly also held the power to confirm some important governmental officers to maintain theseparation of powers during the government reorganization.

The Kuomintang-ledgovernment of the Republic of Chinaretreated to Taiwan in 1949, two years after thefirst election was held inChina. AsKuomintang insists to claim the sovereignty over the wholeChina, the term of the members were extended until "re-election is possible in their originalelectoral district." In response to the increasing democracy movement in Taiwan, limited supplementary elections were held inTaiwan starting from 1969 and parts ofFujian from 1972. Members elected in these supplementary elections served together with the members who were elected in 1948. This situation remained until a Constitutional Court (Judicial Yuan) ruling on June 21, 1991, that ordered the retirement of allmembers with extended terms by the end of year 1991.^[4]

Timeline of National Assembly elections and terms

• Functions of the National Assembly are now exercised by theconstitutional referendums byTaiwanese people,Legislative Yuan and Constitutional Court ofJudicial Yuan.

When the Assembly is not in session, the secretary-general (Chinese:秘書長;pinyin:Mìshūzhǎng;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Pì-su-tiúⁿ) is thede facto highest-ranking official, in charge of the overall affairs of the Assembly and supervising its staff. Note that the secretary-general is entitledacting secretary-general when the National Assembly is not in session.

• The 1st and 2nd National Assemblies elected apresidium (Chinese:主席團;pinyin:Zhǔxítuán;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Chú-se̍k-thoân) as the leader of the body.
• The 3rd National Assembly elected aspeaker (Chinese:議長;pinyin:Yìzhǎng;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Gī-tiúⁿ) and a deputy speaker (Chinese:副議長;pinyin:Fùyìzhǎng;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Hù-gī-tiúⁿ) to lead the assembly.
• The 2005ad hoc National Assembly reverted to electing apresidium (Chinese:主席團;pinyin:Zhǔxítuán;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Chú-se̍k-thoân) as the leader of the body.

Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the 3rd National Assembly

No.	Session		Speaker			Deputy Speaker			President
	Starts on	Ends on	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Political Party	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Political Party
1	8 July 1996	13 January 1999		Fredrick Chien 錢復 (1935–) MNA for Nationwide KMT at-large №1	Kuomintang		Hsieh Lung-sheng 謝隆盛 (1941–2006) MNA for Nationwide KMT at-large №3	Kuomintang		Lee Teng-hui (KMT)
2	13 January 1999	8 September 1999		Su Nan-cheng 蘇南成[note 1] (1936–2014) MNA for Nationwide KMT at-large №8	Kuomintang		Chen Chin-jang 陳金讓 (1935–) MNA for Nationwide KMT at-large №2	Kuomintang
	8 September 1999	19 May 2000	Deputy Speaker served as the acting Speaker

The 2005ad hoc National Assembly elected a presidium with 11 members as follows:

• Nanjing Great Hall of the People
• Zhongshan Hall
• Chung-Shan Building
• United States Electoral College
• Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
• National People's Congress
• Legislative Yuan

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