Taiwan's first direct presidential election in 1996 was a defining moment in its transition to democracy, former president 
Tsai Ing-wen said in a written address to a seminar marking 30 years of direct presidential elections. The address was made public at the seminar in Taipei on Friday, where former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Hsu Hsin-liang and People First Party chairman James Soong sparred over a two-round voting system.
What did Tsai's address say? Tsai said the 1996 vote was a declaration to the world that Taiwan's people would choose their own leaders and future. Direct elections also created political accountability, with every ballot both a mandate and a trust that reminds those in power that all power has limits and every decision must face oversight, she said in remarks carried by CNA. She said she often felt that responsibility during her eight years as president. Taiwan faces military pressure, diplomatic suppression, economic coercion, cognitive warfare and united front infiltration from China, which is trying to shake Taiwanese people's right to decide their future, she said. "We can disagree with one another, but we must jointly defend the bottom line of democracy," she said.
What was the two-round dispute? Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽), a chair professor at National Chengchi University's College of Law, proposed at the forum that Taiwan adopt two-round elections to avoid minority governments, the Liberty Times reported. Hsu said President 
Lai Ching-te would still have won the 2024 election under two rounds, calling the DPP a formal minority but a substantive majority. The DPP failed to win a legislative majority in 2024 and Lai was elected with less than half of the vote, CNA reported. Hsu said the opposition's reluctance to call a no-confidence vote showed it knew it was only a formal majority. Soong replied that majorities must also respect minorities, and said he would certainly have won the 2000 election under the same arrangement, so old accounts should not be raked over.
How did speakers trace the history? Soong, a panellist at the seminar held at the National Central Library, said Taiwan's democratisation could not be told from 1996 alone but had to start with the late president 
Chiang Ching-kuo, CNA reported. He recalled asking Chiang how to handle the DPP's founding in 1986 and being told that "arresting people cannot solve the problem." Hsu said there would have been no direct elections without the 1990 National Affairs Conference.
Figures referenced: Tsai Ing-wen, Lai Ching-te, Chiang Ching-kuo. — JudgeMarket.
