2001 Kuomintang chairmanship election

24 March 2001

2005 →

Turnout

57.9%


Nominee	Lien Chan
Popular vote	521,712
Percentage	100%

Chairman before election

Lien Chan

Elected Chairman

Lien Chan

The 2001 Kuomintang chairmanship election (Chinese: 2001年中國國民黨主席選舉) was held on 24 March 2001 in Taiwan. This was the first direct party leadership election in Kuomintang history in which all registered, due-paying party members were eligible to vote. In previous elections, only 2,000 high-ranking members could cast votes.

History

Lee Teng-hui had assumed the presidency and Kuomintang chairmanship in 1988, after the death of Chiang Ching-kuo. With the help of Lien Chan, Lee had withstood a challenge to his leadership in 1997, shortly after the Kuomintang lost that year's local elections handily.^[1] In 2000, the Kuomintang lost the presidential election to Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian, and discontent over Lee's leadership had again broken out.^[2]^[3] He planned to resign the chairmanship in September,^[4] but eventually submitted his resignation on 24 March,^[5] after days of speculation and protest.^[6] Lien Chan succeeded Lee as chairman in June.^[7] The first direct leadership election was scheduled for 24 March 2001. In previous elections, only 2,000 party representatives could vote for the office.^[8]

Election

Lien Chan registered for the election on 9 February 2001,^[9] and ran unopposed, as Tuan Hung-chun was declared ineligible.^[7] Lien was required to gather a petition of three percent of the party membership to validate his candidacy.^[7] He garnered 521,712 of 537,370 votes in the election itself, at a time when the Kuomintang had an eligible voter count of 928,175.^[10] Lien won 97.09% of all votes cast, a record that would stand until 2015, when Eric Chu was elected.^[11]


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Lien Chan	Kuomintang	521,712	100.00
Total			521,712	100.00

Valid votes			521,712	97.09
Invalid/blank votes			15,658	2.91
Total votes			537,370	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			928,175	57.90

References

^ Liu, Weiling (12 December 1997). "Lee's party chairmanship unshaken". Taiwan Today. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ Han Cheung (15 March 2020). "Taiwan in Time: The KMT's first downfall". Retrieved 15 March 2020.
^ "Protesters Denounce Taiwan President". Los Angeles Times. 21 March 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ Chu, Henry (23 March 2000). "Taiwan's Lee Reportedly Quitting Party Post Now". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ "President Resigns as Party Leader". Los Angeles Times. 24 March 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ Chu, Henry (20 March 2000). "Outgoing Taiwan Leader to Quit as Head of Party". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lin, Chieh-yu (24 March 2001). "Lien gears up for polls". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ Huang, Joyce (30 January 2001). "KMT membership drive wraps up after five months". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ "Lien Chan registers candidacy for KMT chairmanship". Kyodo News. 9 February 2001. Retrieved 14 May 2016 – via The Free Library.
^ Lin, Chieh-yu (25 March 2001). "No surprise as Lien wins election". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan (18 January 2015). "KMT elects Eric Chu as chairman". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.