1995 Chinese general elections

The 8th National People's congress elections was held in China on February 23, 1995. The elections were the first completely free and competitive elections to be held in the country since 1949, and only the first completely free elections with universal suffrage in the country's history. The constitutional Democracy Party(CDP) led by the former general secretary of the CCP Zhao Ziyang defeated several small parties by a huge margin, to become the largest party in the National People's congress with an absolute majority.

CDP leader Zhao Ziyang become the premier of China, The Socialist Party of China, the former CCP, suffered a crushing defeat, winning only 34 seats and 4,7% of popular votes. The Progressive Unionists, an electoral coalition of the Social Democrats Party of China and Liberal. become the largest opposition party/coalition in the National People's Congress. Conservative movement led by former premier Li Peng, the Minzudang(Chinese National Party) become the third largest party.

Background
In April 1989, a wave of massive student protests broke out in the People's Republic of China. While mourning the late CCP leader Hu Yaobang, the students called for anti-corruption and political democratization reforms. The protests continued throughout the spring and summer. These actions shock the communist regime of the country to such an extent that it decided to begin talking about political reforms. On May 13, during Gorbachev's visit to Beijing, General secretary of CCP Zhao Ziyang spoke to students on hunger strike, promised more serious democratic reform, and asked them to go home. While Zhao's promises gave students hope, mass protests resumed again a day after yet another anti-democratic article in the People's Daily. But Zhao gained great prestige in the party, army, and society. On May 19, Zhao Ziyang made a speech to the students again, calling them "true patriots" and calling for a change in the Chinese government and party. May 21, Zhao Ziyang meets student leaders in Zhongnanhai, while conservatives within the CCP face catastrophic failure. Zhao Ziyang thwarted Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng's crackdown on protesters. Wen Jiabao and Peng Chong convened an extraordinary meeting of the NPC, at which Deng Xiaoping was dismissed from the post of chairman of the Central Military Commission (Zhao Ziyang was appointed instead). Deng Xiaoping was placed under house arrest, but he still received respect from numerous Chinese citizens for his achievements in reform and opening up. (He was appointed China's president by the National People's Congress in 1995) After that, Zhao called an emergency meeting of the CCP Politburo, at which Li Peng, Chen Yun, and Li Xiannian were expelled from the Party and martial law was imposed in Beijing, Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. The Beijing garrison of the PLA relatively peacefully restored order in the capital (students, army, and government were united). After that, the situation in China relatively stabilized. Zhao Ziyang's political reform plan called for China to become a parliamentary democracy no later than 1996. At the end of 1989, Zhao adopted the first package of reforms, which required:

1. ⁠A Hong Kong-style civil service system. 2. ⁠Large-scale economic reform to combat inflation and inefficient atavisms of the planned economy. 3. ⁠fiscal decentralization. 4. ⁠Liberalization of elections to Local People's Congresses and gubernatorial. 5. ⁠Anti-corruption campaign. After Zhao Ziyang's reform plan, China entered a period of political transition for several years, and the Chinese Communist Party was replaced by the Constitutional Democracy Party led by Zhao Ziyang. Traditional Chinese Communist Party supporters are also scattered across small parties. After the reform, many political parties were established, and many new media also promoted the diversity of political culture. (China Spring) The CCP was also officially dissolved at the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1992.

In 1995, the first free election was held in China.

Electoral campaign
Following the democratic reform of Zhao Ziyang. After years of negotiation and constituency division, the China Democratic Transition Committee and the National People's Political Consultative Conference decided to hold the first free election in Chinese history on February 23, 1995, and elect new members of the NFP. The Constitutional Democracy Party, led by Zhao Ziyang, started an impressive campaign for the Chinese’s democratization and economic growth. In October 1994, the Social Democrats Party of China led by Wen Jiabao, and the Liberal Party reached an agreement for the upcoming election within the centre to centre-left coalition, named Progressive Unionists. After a few days, Wen was appointed political leader of the alliance. They ran for massive economic investment, welfare, and support for civil rights. Former Chinese Premier Li Peng once expelled from the CCP after 1989, returned to the public eye with the conservative and authoritarian party Minzudang, and used traditional rural conservative areas to launch an election in the name of "protecting traditional China". The People’s Party, an anti-liberalism center-right party founded by the former Jilin governor Gao Di, has also gained widespread support in ethnic minority areas and the Northeast. The former CCP, the Socialist Party of China tried to revive the party with a new look but got into trouble. After the New Year, major political parties started campaigning across the country. Zhao Ziyang visited 22 provinces across the country for more than a month to support the Constitutional Democracy Party candidates. while the Liberal Party and Social Democrats use the nascent urban mass media and immature networks to promote progressive agendas. Campaign rallies across the country received extensive global media coverage. At the debate for the premier candidate, Zhao Ziyang emphasized the success of his democratic reforms, while Wen Jiabao criticized Zhao's anti-corruption and civil service reform deficiencies and possible corruption cases. Minzudang’s leader Li Peng, who is seen as authoritarian, missed the premier debate. Major political parties' campaigns were also briefly suspended as the campaign cycle passed through the Lunar New Year. According to the regulations of China's National Election Commission, seven days before the election is a quiet period for polls. The last poll from the Institute of Political Science of Fudan University showed that the Constitutional Democracy Party maintained a lead of over 30%.

Results
The outcome was an expected victory for the Constitutional Democracy Party, it was a landslide, winning three-fifths of the seats in the National People's Congress, and 42% of the popular votes. The party triumphed in most cities and villages. And let Zhao Ziyang become the first Chinese national leader elected by free elections. The center-left coalition’s results were far from satisfactory. But the Liberal Party performed remarkably in big urban areas like Beijing. The Social Democrats Party also performed well in various regions and became the second largest party in the National People's Congress. Li Peng’s Minzudang  become the country's third-largest party with widespread support in rural areas.