Saisiat of Hsinchu complete nation's first elections held by Aboriginal tribe

Members of the Saisiat tribe in Wufeng Township, Hsinchu County, vote yesterday in the election for members of their assembly's lower house. PHOTO: WANG CHIN-YI, TAIPEI TIMES

The Saisiat community in Hsinchu County yesterday completed the first lower house election of the Saisiat Assembly -- marking the first election held by an Aboriginal tribe in the nation's history.

The upper house of the Saisiat Assembly consists of clan leaders who are not elected. They only retire when they choose to and may appoint their own successors. All upper-house members are males.

The newly formed 34-seat lower house is elected by all Saisiats in Hinchu County over the age of 18.

Candidates were nominated by five leading families in Hsinchu: the Chao (趙), the Chu (朱), the Hsia (夏), the Kao (高) and the Chien (錢). Four other candidates ran for two at-large seats representing the youth, and another four for two at-large seats representing women.

The Chao and Chu families each secured 10 seats, the Hsia and Kao families won four seats and two seats were allocated to the Chien family, final results released by the assembly's secretariat showed.

"Three hundred and twenty-two out of 581 eligible voters voted in [yesterday's] election, for a voter turnout of approximately 55 percent," chief election coordinator Ken Chih-you (根誌優) told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview last night.

Voters may only vote for candidates in their own clan.

In addition to the elected seats, approximately 10 "honorary seats" will be allocated to representatives of local schools, civic organizations, or government offices.

However, the exact number of these honorary seats will be decided by lower house members in their first meeting at the end of the month, Ken said.