Gimo's Gerontocracy

There was no suspense in the election that assured Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek, 84, a fifth six-year term as President of the Republic of China, i.e., the Nationalist government of Taiwan. The Gimo was the only candidate, and he received all but eight of the f,316 ballots cast in the National Assembly (the others were left blank or deliberately mismarked). The vote, however, demonstrated the urgency of the regime's plan to hold new popular elections for the Assembly--the first since before Chiang and his 2,000,000 Nationalist followers fled to Taiwan in 1949.

The idea is to grant a bigger voice to the restive Taiwanese natives, who account for 85% of the island's population of 15 million but hold only 2% of the seats in the Assembly. In addition, the regime has strong actuarial reasons for seeking to broaden its base. Of the 2,961 Assembly members chosen at the last election, which was held on the mainland in 1946, many never made it to Taiwan at all; hundreds of other Assemblymen have died over the years. There have been five more deaths since the opening of the current session on Feb. 20, and present membership stands at 1,369, with an average age of well over 65. Several hospitalized members were unable to get to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall just outside Taipei for last week's vote. One arrived in an ambulance to cast his ballot for Chiang.

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