Taiwanese general election, 2016

Republic of China general election, 2016

16 January 2016

Majority party Minority party   Candidate To be determined Tsai Ing-wen Leader Eric Chu Tsai Ing-wen Party Kuomintang Democratic Progressive Alliance Pan-Blue Pan-Green Last election 51.60% (presidential) 45.63% (presidential) Seats before 64 40

President before election Ma Ying-jeou Kuomintang Elected President TBD

General elections to elect the President, Vice-President and the Legislative Yuan will be held in Taiwan on 16 January 2016.^[1] The elections will elect the 14th-Term President and Vice-President, as well as all members of the Legislative Yuan.

Electoral system

Each presidential candidate has a vice-presidential running mate on the same ticket, to be elected using the first-past-the-post system. According to the constitutional rules, incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou cannot seek re-election. This will be the sixth direct election to the presidential and vice-presidential posts, as these officers were elected by the National Assembly and not directly by the people until 1996.

In a separate set of ballots, the 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan are elected by two methods: 73 are elected in geographical constituency and six in indigenous constituencies using the first-past-the-post system. The remaining 34 are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency.

Potential presidential candidates

For the pan-blue camp

Kuomintang, the senior party in the pan-blue camp, plans to hold a primary between April and June, nominating its candidate in July.^[2] The hopefuls included:

• Chen Mingyi: ( KMT) former New Taipei City councillor^[3]
• Eric Chu: ( KMT) Mayor of New Taipei and leader of Kuomintang^[3]
• Hau Lung-pin: ( KMT) former Mayor of Taipei and deputy leader of Kuomintang^[3]
• Huang Po-shou: ( KMT) former chief secretary of the Dayuan township office^[4]
• Hung Hsiu-chu: ( KMT) Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Yuan;^[5] candidacy declared^[6]
• Jiang Yi-huah: ( KMT) former Premier^[3]
• Lee Hong-yuan: ( KMT, formerly PFP) former Minister of the Interior and former Minister of the Public Construction Commission^[3][7]
• James Soong: ( PFP) leader of the People First Party.
• Wang Jin-pyng: ( KMT) Speaker of the Legislative Yuan^[3]
• Wu Den-yih: ( KMT) Vice President^[3]
• Yaung Chih-liang: ( KMT) former health minister^[8]

For the pan-green camp

Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and former vice-premier, was the only candidate running in the DPP primary^[9] and was duly nominated by the party.^[10]

Other hopefuls included:

• Kiku Chen: ( DPP) Mayor of Kaohsiung City;^[11] did not register for the DPP primary.
• Ko Wen-je: (independent) Mayor of Taipei City.^[12]
• William Lai: ( DPP) Mayor of Tainan City;^[13] declined to run^[14]
• Su Tseng-chang: ( DPP) former Premier and former leader of the Democratic Progressive Party;^[3] declined to run^[15]
• Yu Shyi-kun: ( DPP) former Premier, former Vice Premier and former leader of the Democratic Progressive Party;^[3] did not register for the DPP primary.

References

Elections and referendums in Taiwan Presidential elections 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Legislative elections 1969 1972 1975 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2008 2012 2016 Local elections 1935 1936 1939 1993 1994 1997 1998 2001 2002 2005 2006 2009 2010 2014 National Assembly elections 1969 1972 1980 1986 1991 1996 2005 Referendums 2004 2008 (Jan) 2008 (Mar) See also: Elections in the Republic of China (1912–49)