The Seniority System in the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan: Change of the Transfers among Committees and the Convener’s Seniority
Author: Yi-ching Shiao
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the change of transfers of committeeassignment and the seniority system of committee chairs since the second-termLegislative Yuan in Taiwan. The research finds that, except the DemocraticProgressive Party (DPP), there are no seniority regulations about committeeassignments and committee chairs. In the Kuomintang (KMT) caucus, committeetransfers and chairs are decided by its headquarters, sub-groups, and legislators’power. As for the People First Party, profession is the main factor. Due to thelimited member of seats won by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), its membersparticipate in a small number of committees and stick to their original assignmentsin the first session.After the Legislative Yuan adopted “registering at own will but casting lots ifno empty slots” system, committee transfers have become more and more commonfrom second to fourth term Legislative Yuan. The situation was improved obviouslyafter changing to the “party proportional system” in the fifth Legislative Yuan. TheTSU members have the lowest rate of committee transfers, then PFP members, thenKMT members, and then DPP members. The committee transfers within everycommittee also declined significantly except the “Technology and InformationCommittee”. Besides, after the term-limit of the committee chair was abolished inthe fifth Legislative Yuan, the proportion of new legislators serving as the committee chair has largely declined, especially those of the KMT and DPPmembers. Because the PFP and the TSU have just entered in the Legislative Yuan,their proportions of new legislators serving as the committee chairs are higher thanthose of the KMT and the DPP.