Taiwan’s Legislative Elections: No majority for first time since 2004

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan elections on Saturday (13 Jan) ended without any party securing a majority for the first time since 2004.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won 51 seats, the Kuomintang (KMT) secured 52 seats, and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) gained eight seats in the 113-seat body.

In the presidential election, DPP’s Lai Ching-Te emerged victorious with over 40% of the vote share, surpassing Kuomintang candidate Hou Yu-ih, who garnered 33.49% of the total votes, and Taiwan People’s Party candidate Ko Wen-je, who secured 26.46% of the national vote, slightly exceeding initial expectations.

Meanwhile, the incumbent ruling party, which had maintained a majority since 2016, experienced a net loss of 11 seats in the legislature, dropping from 62 to 51.

The lack of a clear majority means that the KMT and the TPP are expected to negotiate a coalition to prevent the DPP from retaining the speakership. The election also proved challenging for smaller parties like the New Power Party, which failed to meet the 5 per cent threshold for at-large seats.

The 2020 legislative election saw the DPP winning 61 seats, with the KMT gaining 38, the TPP five, the New Power Party three, and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party one. The last time no party held a majority was in 2004, with the DPP winning 89 seats and the KMT 79.

This year’s election has left the TPP, led by former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, in a key position, as they now hold significant influence over the legislative agenda and the potential to support or block legislation.

Among notable individual races, Miao Po-ya of the Social Democratic Party, backed by the DPP, lost in Taipei, and the pro-independence Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s Wu Hsin-tai also suffered a defeat.

The DPP’s Wu Pei-yi won in Taipei’s 5th electoral district, while in Hsinchu City, the KMT’s Cheng Cheng-chien triumphed over DPP and TPP candidates.

In Taichung, the TPP’s Tsai Pi-ru narrowly lost to the DPP’s incumbent deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang. In Kaohsiung, the DPP’s Huang Jie won, becoming Taiwan’s first openly lesbian legislator.

Two independent lawmakers, Chen Chao-ming and Indigenous Legislator May Chin, both ideologically aligned with the KMT, were re-elected. The DPP’s seats included 36 from single-member districts, two Indigenous, and 13 at-large legislators, while the KMT’s included 36 single-member districts, three Indigenous, and 13 at-large seats.

With no party commanding a clear majority, Taiwan’s political landscape is set for significant changes as negotiations and alliances form in the coming weeks.