 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 870 seats in the National Assembly (274 seats in the Senate and 596 seats in the House of Representatives) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1912 Chinese National Assembly elections, held in December 1912 to January 1913, were the first nation-wide elections for the newly founded National Assembly of the Republic of China, which was a bicameral parliament with a Senate and a House of Representatives. This assembly was called by the Chinese the Old Congress (laoguohui) to differentiate it from the future assemblies.
The election was indirect, as voters chose some 30,000 electors who chose about 2,000 members of the provincial assemblies and 596 members of the House of Representatives. The election was conducted relatively fairly, although some claim that this system had caused instances of bribery, duress, and violence.
The 274-member Senate were elected by the provincial assemblies who themselves had been elected in 1909 during the Qing dynasty.
Adult males over the age of 21 who were educated or owned property and paid taxes, and who could prove a two-year residency in a particular county, could vote. [1] An estimated 40 million or 4-6% of China's population were registered for the election. [2] This was an increase from the size of the electorate in the 1909 Chinese provincial elections, when less than 1% of the population was enfranchised.
The president had to pick the 64 members representing Tibet, Outer Mongolia, and Overseas Chinese due to the fact that the government in Beijing did not exercise enough control over these populations to organize elections. Despite the compromises, this election had the participation of over 300 civic groups and was the first and most competitive nationwide election in Chinese history.
The Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) led by Song Jiaoren won a plurality in both houses of the assembly, and Song was expected to become the Premier of China. [2] After losing the election, the Republican, Unity, and Democratic (formerly Constitutionalist) parties merged into the Progressive Party with Liang Qichao as leader. The Progressive Party became the main rival to the Nationalists.
Song was assassinated on 20 March 1913 in Shanghai. When the assembly convened for the first time on April 8 amid heated debate over the assassination, the Nationalists were divided over solutions on how to deal with Yuan Shikai, the provisional president, who was suspected of ordering the assassination. On 12 July, Sun Yat-sen led the Nationalists to launch an armed rebellion against Yuan, historically known as the Second Revolution. However, the Second Revolution was defeated within two months by Yuan's forces.
The National Assembly members were compromised by threats and bribes from Yuan. He confined the National Assembly (Congress) and forced them to elect him as the formal president in the October presidential election. Soon, Yuan outlawed the Nationalists and expelled them from the assembly. Without a quorum, the National Assembly could not convene. Consequently, Yuan disbanded this assembly (congress) on 10 January 1914. In other words, this body existed for only nine months, yet it left an enduring legacy to China as the first democratic experiment.
| Electoral district | Population | Voters | % | House Seats | Senate Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhili | 25,932,133 | 9,195,757 | 35.46 | 46 | 10 |
| Fengtian | 12,133,303 | 896,408 | 7.39 | 16 | 10 |
| Jilin | 5,580,030 | 108,835 | 1.95 | 10 | 10 |
| Heilongjiang | 2,028,776 | 288,234 | 14.21 | 10 | 10 |
| Shandong | 30,987,853 | 1,368,184 | 4.42 | 33 | 10 |
| Henan | 35,900,038 | 1,688,632 | 4.70 | 32 | 10 |
| Shanxi | 12,269,386 | 2,588,068 | 21.10 | 28 | 10 |
| Jiangsu | 32,282,781 | 1,939,386 | 6.01 | 40 | 10 |
| Anhui | 16,229,052 | 1,450,901 | 8.94 | 27 | 10 |
| Jiangxi | 23,987,317 | 4,986,883 | 20.79 | 35 | 10 |
| Fujian | 15,849,296 | 1,283,348 | 8.10 | 24 | 10 |
| Zhejiang | 21,440,151 | 1,184,629 | 5.53 | 38 | 10 |
| Hubei | 25,590,308 | 5,670,370 | 22.16 | 26 | 10 |
| Hunan | 27,390,230 | 1,277,414 | 4.66 | 27 | 10 |
| Shaanxi | 10,271,096 | 1,395,622 | 2.98 | 21 | 10 |
| Gansu | 4,989,907 | 148,526 | 2.98 | 14 | 10 |
| Xinjiang | 2,000,000 | 9,506 | 0.48 | 10 | 10 |
| Sichuan | 48,129,596 | 1,729,368 | 3.59 | 35 | 10 |
| Guangdong | 28,010,560 | 1,966,516 | 7.02 | 30 | 10 |
| Guangxi | 8,746,747 | 2,731,717 | 31.23 | 19 | 10 |
| Yunnan | 9,466,965 | 233,398 | 2.47 | 22 | 10 |
| Guizhou | 9,665,227 | 792,290 | 8.20 | 13 | 10 |
| Inner Mongolia | — | — | — | 27 | 27 |
| Tibet Autonomous Region | — | — | — | 10 | 10 |
| Qinghai | — | — | — | 3 | 3 |
| Oversea Chinese | — | — | — | 0 | 6 |
| Central Society | — | — | — | 0 | 8 |
| Total | 406,880,486 | 42,933,992 | 10.50 | 596 | 274 |
  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | |||||
| Senate | House | |||||
| Kuomintang | 132 | 269 | ||||
| Republican Party | 46 | 120 | ||||
| Unity Party | 6 | 18 | ||||
| Democratic Party | 8 | 16 | ||||
| Multi-party candidates | 38 | 147 | ||||
| Independents | 44 | 26 | ||||
| Total | 274 | 596 | ||||
An important function of the National Assembly under the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China was to elect the President and Vice President of China. The following elections were held by the 1st National Assembly of Beiyang government.
| Order | Presidential Election | President | Vice President | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1913 Chinese presidential election | Yuan Shikai | Li Yuanhong | First formal presidential election in Chinese history |
| 1916 Chinese vice-presidential election | — | Feng Guozhang | To replace the vacancy of Li Yuanhong as he sworn in as the President after Yuan Shikai's death. | |
| 3rd | 1923 Chinese presidential election | Cao Kun | — | Resumed session after First Zhili–Fengtian War |
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of Taiwan (ROC) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel voting system.
Song Jiaoren was a Chinese republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuomintang (KMT). Song Jiaoren led the KMT to electoral victories in China's first democratic election. He based his appeal on the upper class gentry, landowners, and merchants. Historians have concluded that provisional president, Yuan Shikai, was responsible for his assassination on March 20, 1913.
The National Assembly was the authoritative legislative body of the Republic of China, from 1947 to 2005. Along with the Control Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, the National Assembly formed the tricameral parliament of China. If still functional, at 3,045 members, the National Assembly would have been the largest parliamentary chamber in the world.
The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, along with its Additional Articles, remains effective in ROC-controlled territories.
The history of the Republic of China begins after the Qing dynasty in 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers.
The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of Taiwan.
This is a timeline of the Republic of China.
The debate over democracy in China has been a major ideological battleground in Chinese politics since the 19th century. China is not a liberal or representative democracy. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government state that China is a "socialist democracy" and a "people's democratic dictatorship." Under Xi Jinping, China is also termed a "whole-process people's democracy." Many foreign and some domestic observers categorize China as an authoritarian one-party state, with some saying it has shifted to neoauthoritarianism. Some characterize it as a dictatorship.
The Beiyang government was the internationally recognized government of the Republic of China between 1912 and 1928, based in Beijing. It was dominated by the generals of the Beiyang Army, giving it its name.
The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, also known as the Second Republic of China or simply as the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the Kuomintang.
The Constitutional Protection Movement was a series of movements led by Sun Yat-sen to resist the Beiyang government between 1917 and 1922, in which Sun established another government in Guangzhou as a result. It was known as the Third Revolution by the Kuomintang. The constitution that it intended to protect was the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China. The first movement lasted from 1917 to 1920; the second from 1921 to 1922. An attempted third movement, begun in 1923, ultimately became the genesis for the Northern Expedition in 1926.
In the history of political parties in China, the first major party in China was the Kuomintang (KMT), which moved to Taiwan in 1949. It was founded in the Republic of Hawaii on November 24, 1894, before being reorganized at Guangdong Province on August 25, 1912, from a union of several revolutionary groups. The Republic of China was founded by Kuomintang's leader Sun Yat-sen later that year. In 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in Shanghai as a study society, and an informal political network.
The Government of the Republic of China, commonly known as the Government of Taiwan, is the central government of Taiwan, whose actual-controlled territory consists of main island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other island groups, collectively known as Taiwan Area or Free Area. Currently governed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since 2016. The government of Taiwan is run by a Semi-presidential system, consists of the presidency and five branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan, and Control Yuan. The president is the head of state, with the premier as the head of central government. Since 2005, the Legislative Yuan has been the unicameral parliamentary body of the country.
The Progressive Party was a political party in the Republic of China from 1913 to 1916.
The 1918 Chinese National Assembly elections, held in May to June, were the elections for the second National Assembly. The bicameral assembly consisted of a senate and a house of representatives. Representatives were directly elected while senators were elected by provincial assemblies.
The Republic of China (ROC) or simply China was a sovereign state based in mainland China from 1912 to 1949 prior to its move to Taiwan. It was first established on 1 January 1912, after being proclaimed in the Xinhai Revolution against the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and lasted until 7 December 1949, after its ruling party Kuomintang (KMT) was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the de facto end of the Chinese Civil War, which resulted in a retreat of its central government to Taiwan, a territory which it took control of from the Empire of Japan in October 1945 after its surrender in World War II. The Communist-led People's Republic of China (PRC) was established on the mainland upon its official proclamation on 1 October 1949, while the ROC is now based on the island of Taiwan with its capital Taipei, where it retains actual rule over the Taiwan Area with the political status of Taiwan remaining in dispute to this day.
The Republican Party was a short-lived political party in the Republican era of China from 1912 to 1913.
The Second Revolution refers to a 1913 revolt by the governors of several southern Chinese provinces as well as supporters of Sun Yat Sen and the Kuomintang against the Beiyang Government of the Republic of China led by Yuan Shikai. It was quickly defeated by Yuan's armies and led to the continued consolidation of Yuan's powers as President of the Republic of China.
The National Assembly was the legislative branch of the Beiyang government during the Republican era of Chinese history. The National Assembly was first founded in 1913, following the overthrow of the previous Qing dynasty, as the first free democratic legislature in Chinese history. It was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed dictatorial power and declared himself the Emperor of China. During the Warlord Era, the National Assembly was resurrected and disbanded more than once as different warlords vied for power and legitimacy.
