Shūgiin election 2000

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Share of votes in%
 %
50
40
30th
20th
10
0
41.0
27.6
12.1
5.0
3.8
3.4
2.0
2.0
3.2
Independent
KP
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 1996
 % p
 20th
 15th
 10
   5
   0
  -5
-10
-15
-20
-25
+2.4
+17.0
-0.5
-1.5
+1.6
-24.6
+2.0
+2.0
+1.7
Independent
KP
Otherwise.
Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
f 1996: NFP
2000 proportional representation
Share of votes in%
 %
30th
20th
10
0
28.3
25.2
13.0
11.2
11.0
9.4
1.9
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 1996
 % p
 14th
 12
 10
   8th
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
-10
-12
-14
-16
-18
-4.5
+9.1
+13.0
-1.9
-17.0
+3.0
-1.8
Otherwise.
Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
e 1996: NFP
Allocation of seats in 2000
         
A total of 480 seats
  • KPJ : 20
  • SDP : 19
  • DPJ : 127
  • LP : 22
  • Otherwise: 6
  • Independent: 15
  • CP : 7
  • Kōmeitō : 31
  • LDP : 233

The 2000 Shūgiin election was the 42nd election to Shūgiin , the Japanese lower house, and took place on June 25, 2000. Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori had only succeeded the late Keizō Obuchi in April . From the very first day, the opposition and left-wing liberal media comments called for new elections to have the election of Mori as LDP chairman confirmed by the people in a parliamentary election.

On May 15, Mori gave a speech in front of the Shinto Seiji Renmei ( 神道 政治 連 盟 , abbreviated to Shinseiren , Eng . "Association for Shinto Politics", English Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership , SAS), one of the LDP-affiliated religious-nationalist Grouping. In his speech, Mori described Japan as the "land of the gods with the Tennō in the center". The opposition saw the principle of the separation of religion and state violated and in opinion polls Mori's approval ratings plummeted. On June 2, the opposition in the Shūgiin requested a vote of no confidence in the Mori cabinet . Under Article 69 of the Japanese Constitution , the cabinet as a whole must resign after a vote of no confidence is passed, unless the Shūgiin is dissolved within ten days. Instead of standing for the vote, Mori dissolved the Shūgiin: Immediately after the debate, the announcement of the dissolution was read out, so that no more votes could take place.

The subject of the extremely short election campaign was, in addition to the numerous controversial statements Mori made - on the eve of the election, for example, he said he hoped that many of the undecided voters would not vote - above all the economic situation: while the LDP-led government was responsible for infrastructure projects and economic stimulus programs came to revive the economy, the opposition called for an intensification of the reforms for deregulation and liberalization.

In February it was decided to reduce the eleven proportional representation blocs by a total of 20 to 180 seats. The turnout was 62.49% in direct elections and 62.45% in proportional representation, recovering slightly from its record low four years earlier.

Political party Constituencies Proportional representation Total seats modification
be right proportion of Seats be right proportion of Seats to the last election on the composition before the election
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 24.945.806 40.97% 177 16,943,425 28.31% 56 233 −6 −38
Kōmeitō 1,231,753 2.02% 7th 7,762,032 12.97% 24 31 (+31) −11
Conservative Party 1,230,464 2.02% 7th 247.334 0.41% 0 7th (+7) −11
Democratic Party (DPJ) 16,811,732 27.61% 80 15,067,990 25.18% 47 127 (+75) +32
Liberal Party 2,053,736 3.37% 4th 6,589,490 11.01% 18th 22nd (+22) +4
Communist Party of Japan (CPJ) 7,352,843 12.08% 0 6,719,016 11.23% 20th 20th −6 −6
Social Democratic Party (SDP) 2,315,234 3.80% 4th 5,603,680 9.36% 15th 19th +4 +5
Mushozoku no Kai ( 無 所属 の 会 , "Assembly of Independents") 652.138 1.07% 5 151.345 0.25% 0 5 (+5) +1
Jiyū Rengō ( 自由 連 合 , "Liberal League") 1,071,012 1.76% 1 660.724 1.10% 0 1 (+1) ± 0
Kaikaku Club ( 改革 ク ラ ブ , "Reform Club") 203.736 0.33% 0 - 0 (± 0) −5
Socialist party - 99,565 0.17% 0 0 (± 0) ± 0
Independent and other 3,014,014 4.95% 15th - 15th (−153) +15
total 60,882,470 100% 300 59,844,601 100% 180 480 −20 −14 (6 vacancies)

Effects

The governing coalition of the LDP, Kōmeitō and Conservative Party suffered significant losses, but was able to maintain a majority in the Shūgiin. On July 4th, Mori was confirmed as Prime Minister with 281 votes in a special session of parliament. However, his position in the party remained controversial, in April 2004 he was replaced by Jun'ichirō Koizumi as party chairman and prime minister.

The Democratic Party, which was founded after the dissolution of the Shinshintō in 1998, was first confirmed as the second strongest force in Shūgiin elections. With the popular party leader Takako Doi, the Social Democrats were able to win seats again after the devastating election results during their participation in government, but again lagged behind the Communists. Ichirō Ozawa's Liberal Party , which had only left the ruling coalition in April 2000, gained votes and saw its move confirmed, while the Conservative Party, which had split off from it and which continued to work with the government, lost significantly.

Of the LDP losses, the Etō-Kamei faction was hit hardest , which dropped from 53 to 42 seats; the Mori faction only lost three seats and even gained the status of the second largest faction. The ex-Obuchi faction gained one seat and now had 57 MPs. In November demanded Kōichi Katō , whose faction, the Kōchikai , had also suffered heavy losses in the election, an internal party leadership change; in this "Kato rebellion" Mori was able to defend the party chairmanship (and thus the office of prime minister). The result was the split of the Kōchikai. The Democratic Party's winning seats went mostly to conservative and moderate politicians, while former Socialists and Social Democrats still lost seats.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Japanese PM urged to call election . BBC News, April 6, 2000
  2. ↑ Mori survives election setback . BBC News, June 26, 2000