Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) No party won a majority in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan for the first time since 2004, after Saturday’s elections saw the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) win 51 seats, the Kuomintang (KMT) 52, and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) eight.
The DPP, which had held a majority in the 113-seat body since 2016, suffered a net loss of 11 seats on Saturday, dropping from 62 to 51 and losing its position of dominance.
With no party able to command a majority, which would need at least 57 seats, it is widely expected that the KMT and the TPP will negotiate a deal to prevent the DPP from retaining the speakership.
Outside of the big three, the New Power Party, which went into the election with three seats, won none in the first-past-the-post electoral districts, nor did it meet the 5 percent threshold to win at-large seats.
In addition to the party seats, two independent legislators won seats, both of whom are ideologically aligned with the KMT in the Legislative Yuan.
In the 2020 legislative election, the DPP won 61 legislative seats, of which 46 were from single-member districts, two were Indigenous legislators, and 13 were at-large.
The KMT won 38 seats in 2020, of which 22 were single-member district legislators, three were Indigenous legislators, and 13 were at-large legislators.
The TPP won five at-large legislative seats in 2020, while the New Power Party had three and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party one. Four single-member district legislators and one Indigenous lawmaker were without party affiliation.
The last time no party had a majority was in 2004, when Taiwan’s Legislature had 225 seats. The DPP won 89 seats, the KMT 79, the People First Party (PFP) 34, and the Taiwan Solidarity Union 12.
The KMT, along with the ideologically aligned PFP and some members of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Alliance continued a working majority from 2004 to 2008, when the Legislative Yuan was reduced to 113 seats after a constitutional amendment was passed.
