Additional information about gender quotas

Until 1992 the National Assembly, a large elected body with delegates from the mainland and the Taiwan constituencies, was the main legislative organ responsible for amending the constitution and electing the president. However, the National Assembly became largely defunct because of its inability to renew its composition due to the term extension of mainland delegates. In 1992, the president became directly elected by the people, and in 2000 the National Assembly was stripped of most powers, transferring legislative powers to the Legislative Yuan. In 2005, the National Assembly was abolished completely and amendments to the constitution are now ultimately decided by popular ballot. During its existence, the National Assembly had several reserved seats for delegates from women's organizations. Under the single non-transferable vote system, until the elections in 2005, there were multimember constituencies; in those with more than four members, one was reserved for women candidates who obtained the highest number of votes. The aggregate number of seats this system reserved for women equalled 10 per cent (Matland 2006: 288–89).

In light of a constitutional amendment in the early 1990s, it was proposed that 25 per cent of all legislative seats be reserved for women. This bill did not pass through parliament.

In 2005, a gender quota of 50% was stipulated for the number of women elected in proportion to the votes won by a political party in the Legislative Yuan election.