Analysis: Why Taiwan's Legislature Designates Indigenous Seats
A number of seats in Taiwan's legislature are reserved for representatives from the country's Indigenous groups.
Scott Simon, professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Ottawa, explains what's behind this arrangement.
Scott Simon, professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Ottawa, explains what's behind this arrangement.
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00:00 So Taiwan has reserved seats in the legislature for indigenous people.
00:04 Could you tell us how this system works and how did it come about?
00:07 Beginning in the 1950s or 60s, when the ROC came to Taiwan,
00:13 the idea was to modernize the way in which the indigenous peoples participate
00:19 in the political system, because, of course, during the Japanese period,
00:23 it was not the kind of democracy that it is today.
00:27 And so in order to guarantee the right of indigenous people to participate in politics,
00:35 they created a quota for indigenous members of the provincial assembly.
00:41 And so basically what's happened is that beginning in the 1992,
00:47 the first direct legislative elections, they kind of transferred that notion over to the legislative UN.
00:54 And so there's a quota of of indigenous legislators.
00:58 What's special about it as well is that they divide it into two different kinds of indigenous peoples.
01:05 And that is often quite confusing for people, but they call them the mountain groups and the plains groups.
01:12 And based on your observations and experience, is it working in the way it was intended to work?
01:17 I think that it does guarantee representation.
01:22 When I compare it, for example, it's worth looking at New Zealand as well,
01:26 because they have an indigenous role.
01:29 Theirs is different. It functions in a very different way.
01:32 But when I look at Canada, for example, because there is no quota for indigenous legislators in Canada's parliament,
01:40 the number fluctuates and sometimes it's less than their percentage in the population.
01:46 And sometimes there's a much larger representation of indigenous peoples in parliament than one would have here.
01:53 And so I think that it does play in both ways, that it does, at least it guarantees a minimum.
02:00 But at the same time, you're right, it does create a very different
02:03 electoral process for the indigenous people because they've got a different slate of candidates for the legislature.
02:10 And how would you say this system of reserved seats affects the way Taiwan's indigenous people engage with the democratic progress?
02:17 So I find is that the elections are a very big part of indigenous life.
02:22 The candidates often come to visit and and that's where it makes for a very different dynamic,
02:31 because the indigenous candidates, unlike every other candidate for the legislature, are not doing their campaigning in
02:41 a local area. They actually have to go all over Taiwan.
02:45 And so they complain about that, actually.
02:48 They say that they have to dedicate the time and financial resources, just like a presidential candidate would, to travel all over Taiwan and then to nourish contacts with people all over Taiwan.
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