on constitutional reform and institutional democratization. The Constitution Court also handed down its constitutional interpretation, saying that the first congress members who had not been re-elected should cease exercising their powers by the end of 1991. The interpretation helped pave the way for re-elections of the congress, including the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan. In 1991, the National Assembly resolved to abolish the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion and introduced the Additional Articles of the Constitution. Seats of the congress were re-allocated to be elected in the Taiwan Area. The nominal representation of mainland China in the congress was ultimately brought to an end in 1992. With reforms continued in the 1990s, more positions were decided by elections. In 1996, Lee Teng-hui was re-elected in the first direct presidential election. Under Lee, the Constitution of the ROC was passed from former "constitution of five powers" to be more tripartite. Government of Taiwan Province was streamlined and provincial-level elections were suspended. Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies. Assimilationist language policy was replaced with support for multiculturalism and official respect for aboriginal languages and other minorities. With democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan gradually resurfaced as a controversial issue where, previously, the discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was a taboo. During the years of Lee's administration, Lee and the KMT were involved in corruption controversies known as "black gold" politics. The corruption and split of the KMT were considered as factors that contributed to the party's loss in the 2000 presidential election. Chen Shui-bian of the DPP was elected as the first non-KMT president in 2000. However, Chen lacked legistlative majority. The opposition KMT developed the Pan-Blue Coalition with other parties, mustering a slim majority over the ruling DPP-led Pan-Green Coalition in the Legislative Yuan. Polarized politics emerged in Taiwan with the Pan-Blue preference for eventual Chinese unification, while the Pan-Green prefers Taiwanese independence. Chen announced in his inauguration speech that he would not declare independence as long as the PRC had no intention to use military force. After a recession in 2001, Chen's reference to the existence of "One Country on Each Side" of the Taiwan Strait undercut cross-Strait relations in 2002. He pushed for the first national referendum on cross-Strait relations before he