When Confucius wrote on his political ideals, he began with an admonition calling on the people to "elect the virtuous and able to public office." On December 6,1980, citizens of the Republic of China heeded that advice. More than 5 million people went to the polls to elect legislators and National Assemblymen in the most successful election ever held in Taiwan.

Parliamentary Organs: The parliament of the Republic of China is composed of the Legislative Yuan, Control Yuan and National Assembly.

The Legislative Yuan, which meets twice a year, exercises legislative power on behalf of the people. Each session lasts four months, but may be extended if necessary. The Control Yuan performs another traditional Chinese state function. It is the highest supervisory organ of the nation and exercises the powers of consent, impeachment, censure and audit. It may bring impeachment proceedings against the President and Vice President. The National Assembly elects the President and Vice President and amends the Constitution.

Members of the Legislative Yuan serve for three years, while those of the National Assembly serve for six. They are all elected by popular vote. Control Yuan members are elected by members of provincial assemblies and the councils of municipalities having provincial status. These special municipalities, including Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, are under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan, the nation's highest administrative organ.

The first elections for the National Assembly, Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan were held in 1947, following the promulgation of the Republic of China's Constitution in late 1946. The takeover of the mainland by the Chinese Communists, and the removal of the central government to Taiwan created serious problems when the initial terms of the parliamentarians expired.

Gordian knot: In 1954, the Council of Grand Justices moved to cut the Gordian knot by issuing a constitutional interpretation to the effect that the original parliamentarians would be allowed to continue in office until the next full elections could be held.

As the economy has prospered and the level of education has in creased, however, more and more younger people have been demanding a voice in government. Some proposed dissolution of the existing parliament and the holding of full-scale elections. Others suggested a system whereby aging members would be retired and replaced by newly elected parliamentarians.

In response, the government has adopted a two-pronged compromise solution: Keeping the original parliamentarians in office to maintain the legitimacy of the constitutional system, and adding seats to the three bodies so that supplementary members can be elected.

Electoral hiatus: Parliamentary elections were originally scheduled in December 1978. While the campaign was in full swing, however, President Carter announced the U.S. decision to switch recognition from the Republic of China to the Chinese Communist regime in Peiping. A wave of patriotism surged, and the atmosphere was volatile. To ensure domestic stability, President Chiang Ching-kuo ordered a postponement of the parliamentary elections.

The President and high-ranking government officials, however, voiced their determination to carry out min chu, meaning decision by the people.

But some radicals were so impatient that they used the suspension of parliamentary elections as a pretext to slander the government. This contributed to the bloody Kaohsiung incident of December 1979.

The elections were suspended, but preparations for them never slowed down. One of the most important steps was to draft an Electoral Law. Only when the law was promulgated, did people realize that the Republic of China was one of the few countries in the world that had held elections before an electoral law was passed. This convinced the people that the government was serious in its pledge to carry out min chu.

Popularity test: The recent parliamentary elections attracted the attention and concern of people both at home and abroad because it was regarded as a test of the government's popularity after the Kaohsiung incident. The landslide result was ample evidence that the government has passed the test. Of the 76 seats up for election in the National Assembly, the ruling Kuomintang took 63, accounting for 82.89 percent, while in the Legislative Yuan, the Kuomintang won 56 out of 70, or 80 percent.

In the past elections, big victories for the Kuomintang aroused suspicions among some voters and became a subject for attack by malicious people. For the latest election, the ruling party took a number of precautionary measures to forestall these accusations. Among other things, it fielded fewer candidates than there were vacant seats. As a result, candidates of the two other political parties and independents could test their strength.

Before the election, there were arguments over the types of ballot box which should be used. Some suspicious people urged the use of transparent boxes, but changed their mind when they were reminded that the voting had to be secret. In the end, they settled on a translucent box made of fiber glass.

Careful Preparation: Before the election, officials had undergone thorough training to ensure the elections were fair, open and harmonious. At a seminar, Governor Lin Yang-kang of Taiwan Province advised officials to regard their job as that of a midwife, whose primary concern is the safety of the mother and child. All workers were told to make the election as close to perfect as possible, no matter who would be the winners. Both front runners for the Legislative Yuan and the National Assembly in Taipei were women. Chou Ching-yu, a sociolo gist, won first place in the National Assembly election, while Chi Cheng led the field in the Legislative Yuan election. Known as the "Flying Antelope," Chi was clocked at 10.4 seconds to win the bronze medal in the 80-meter hurdle event at the 1968 Olympic games held in Mexico.

The improvement of the caliber of candidates and the judgment of voters has been praised widely in Taiwan. Of the newly-elected National Assembly men and women, four were holders of Ph.D. degrees, six master's and 45 bachelor's, while in the Legislative Yuan, the figures were eight, nine and 42 respectively. The main issues in the campaign were public housing projects, welfare for workers, universal medical care, prevention of economic crimes, and consumer protection. Voters passed their judgment on the basis of educational background, experience, and views of the candidates and put least emphasis on candidates' wealth and wild promises.

One foreign observer in Taipei said that the election is a hopeful start, for it suggests that established political circles and those in opposition are developing a mutual respect that is the basis of democracy. He added that the Kuomintang is sincere in its tutorial role as it begins to accept more capable people from both inside and outside the party, to work in the interests of the country and the people.

Prof. Ma Chi-hua of the National Chengchi University praised the high degree of rationality and moderation displayed both by the candidates and voters during the campaign period and on election day.

"Emotionalism and extremism had little place in the recent elections. What we have seen are enthusiasm, participation, analysis, reasoning and concrete political planks, not just blank check promises," he said.

The election was overwhelmingly successful. If there was any shortcoming, it was the delay in counting the votes. Even though a computer was used, the job took 14 hours longer than expected. This was mainly due to the delay in receiving reports filed by understaffed town ship offices where the votes were counted first. Said one computer engineer: "This is like trying to kill a chicken with a knife made specially for butchering a bull. How can I make it work?"

[Picture Caption]

The recent parliamentary election was a major event in the Republic of China. Many aspiring young people were elected. During the campaign, they were free to speak out on their views and all cities and townships were filled with posters.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

President Chiang Ching-kuo and Mrs. Chiang obtain their ballots from the election officials at a polling station (top). Boy scouts were mobilized on election day to help old people to the polls. Translucent fiber glass ballot boxes were used, allowing the ballots to be seen, while their contents were hidden. This guaranteed both the honesty and secrecy of the voting.

A computer was used to tally the votes. Premier Sun Yun-suan inspected the counting center and listened to Interior Minister Chiu Chuang-huan's explanation on how the data was being processed. Operators of the stations organized several rehearsals. At the counting center, the Premier was surrounded by reporters who were covering the election. The counting workers spent all night finishing their task.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

Voters were rational in passing their judgment. They enthusiastically attended campaign rallies, and some even recorded speeches by candidates for further scrutiny at home.

President Chiang Ching-kuo and Mrs. Chiang obtain their ballots from the election officials at a polling station （top）.

Boy scouts were mobilized on election day to help old people to the polls.

Translucent fiber glass ballot boxes were used, allowing the ballots to be seen, while their contents were hidden. This guaranteed both the honesty and secrecy of the voting.

A computer was used to tally the votes.

Premier Sun Yun-suan inspected the counting center and listened to Interior Minister Chiu Chuang-huan's explanation on how the data was being processed.

Operators of the stations organized several rehearsals.

At the counting center, the Premier was surrounded by reporters who were covering the election. The counting workers spent all night finishing their task.