Taiwan swore in its 11th Legislative Yuan, with none of its parties holding absolute majority
Feb 01, 2024
Taipei [Taiwan], February 1 : Taiwan on Thursday swore in its 11th Legislative Yuan, a group of 113 members, from 10-term parliamentary mainstay Ker Chien-ming, the outgoing majority leader in the Legislative Yuan since 2016, to Huang Jie, the Legislature's youngest member at 31, as reported by Central News Agency Taiwan.
The new Legislature has no single party holding an absolute majority.
Moreover, the 11th Legislative Yuan will remain in office through 2028, according to Focus Taiwan.
Reportedly, the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) holds 52 seats, in addition to two KMT-aligned independents, while the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has 51.
Moreover, the minor Taiwan People's Party (TPP), with eight seats, will therefore hold a crucial swing vote.
The incoming lawmakers consist of 54 new members and 59 returning incumbents. Out of which, 47 of them are women (42 per cent) and 66 are men (58 per cent), Central Taiwan reported.
Notably, the average age of members in the new Legislature is 53.
Out of the total members, seven members (6 per cent) are aged 70 and above, 17 (15 per cent) are aged 60-69, 58 (51 per cent) are aged 50-59, and 20 members (18 per cent) are between the ages of 40 and 49.
Only 11 lawmakers, or around 10 per cent of them, are below the age of 40, the youngest of which is 31-year-old DPP lawmaker Huang Jie.
Tainan-based DPP Legislator Lin Chun-Hsien, in terms of electoral performance, received the highest share of votes of any lawmaker in the January 13 election, winning 76.54 per cent of the total ballots cast, as reported by Central News agency Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the KMT's Hung Mong-kai of New Taipei won the most overall votes in the election, with 158,586, while the KMT's Chen Hsueh-sheng of the outlying Lienchiang County (Matsu) was elected with 3,118 votes, marking the lowest number of votes.
Furthermore, now, in his 10th term, the DPP's Ker remains the Legislature's most senior lawmaker.
According to Central News Agency Taiwan, he first entered the parliament during the second Legislative Yuan in 1993.
