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.
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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 1912 Chinese National Assembly elections 1909 December 1912 January 1913 1918 All 870 seats in the National Assembly 274 seats in the Senate and 596 seats in the House of Representatives First party Second party Leader Song Jiaoren Li Yuanhong Party Kuomintang Republican Senate 132 46 House 269 120 Third party Fourth party Leader Zhang Binglin Tang Hualong Party Unity Democratic Senate 6 8 House 18 16Premier before election Zhao Bingjun Nonpartisan Elected Premier Zhao Bingjun Nonpartisan Contents 1 Overview 2 Voter and seat distributions 3 Results 4 Presidential elections in National Assembly 5 See also 6 References 7 BibliographyOverview editThe 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 Voter and seat distributions edit nbsp The inaugural meeting of the National Assembly in April 1913 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 274Results edit nbsp nbsp PartySeatsSenateHouseKuomintang132269Republican Party46120Unity Party618Democratic Party816Multi party candidates38147Independents4426Total274596Presidential elections in National Assembly editAn 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 Presidential elections by the National Assembly elected in 1912 13 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 2nd Presidential election was held by the 2nd National Assembly elected in 1918See also edit1909 Chinese provincial elections History of the Republic of China National Assembly Beiyang government History of the Kuomintang Progressive Party China History of BeijingReferences edit Cambridge History of China Vol 12 Part 1 222 223 a b Young Ernest P Politics in the Aftermath of Revolution The Era of Yuan Shih K ai 1912 16 Cambridge History of China Vol 12 Part 1 p 222 Bibliography editTwitchett Denis Fairbank John K eds 1983 The Cambridge History of China Vol 12 Part 1 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 23541 9 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1912 Chinese National Assembly election amp oldid 1188336508, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
