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The Tangwai (黨外; on Taiwan in the mid- 1970s and early 1980s . Although the Kuomintang had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in Legislative Yuan , opposition parties were still forbidden. As a result, many opponents of the Kuomintang , officially classified as independents, ran and were elected as members outside the party. Because the majority of seats in the Legislative Yuan were held by delegates elected in 1947 , pending the retaking of the Mainland , the Tangwai movement had no possibility of seizing power, but they were able to use the legislature as a forum for debating the ruling Kuomintang .

The members of the Tangwai movement formed the Democratic Progressive Party in 1986 . Although still illegal, the KMT did not take action against the DPP and the party was legalized in 1991 . Many current politicians in Taiwan, most notably President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu were active in the Tangwai movement.

These political phenomena see some parallel in the recent history of local contested elections in Mainland China .