Shūgiin election 2003

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← 20002003 constituencies (300 seats)2005 →
Share of votes in%
 %
50
40
30th
20th
10
0
43.9
36.7
8.1
4.6
2.9
1.5
1.3
1.1
Independent
NKP
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 2000
 % p
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
+2.9
+5.7
-4.0
-0.4
-0.9
-0.5
-0.7
-2.0
Independent
NKP
Otherwise.
Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
b The Liberal Party joined the DPJ in November.
Proportional election 2003 (180 seats)
Share of votes in%
 %
40
30th
20th
10
0
37.4
35.0
14.8
7.8
5.1
n. k.
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 2000
 % p
   8th
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
+1.2
+6.7
+1.8
-3.4
-4.3
-1.9
Otherwise.
Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
a The Liberal Party joined the DPJ in November.
Distribution of seats in 2003
        
A total of 480 seats

The 2003 Shūgiin election was the 43rd election to Shūgiin , the Japanese lower house, and took place on November 9, 2003. Prime Minister Jun'ichirō Koizumi had - after his re-election as LDP chairman on September 20, 2003 - dissolved the Shūgiin on October 10th.

Election campaign

The election campaign was determined by a polarization of the two large parties LDP and DPJ with their popular chairmen Jun'ichirō Koizumi and Naoto Kan . The DPJ first formulated specific political demands in an election manifesto ( マ ニ フ ェ ス ト , Manifesuto ), which has since been practiced by most parties. The DPJ also presented a shadow cabinet for the first time , as was originally the case in countries with a two-party system . In September 2003, the MPs of Ichirō Ozawa's Liberal Party had joined the DPJ.

The topics of the election campaign were reforms of the welfare systems, especially the pension system, the continued poor economic situation, the growing crime rate, relations with North Korea and Japan's participation in the US intervention in Iraq. The main demand of the left parties was to prevent a change in the pacifist post-war constitution that some LDP politicians were calling for .

Participation and outcome

The turnout was 59.86% for direct elections and 59.81% for proportional representation, making it the second lowest in post-war history.

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) 26,089,326.597 43.85% 168 20.660.185 34.96% 69 237 +4 −10
(New) Kōmeitō 886,507.202 1.49% 9 8,733,444 14.78% 25th 34 +3 +3
New Conservative Party 791,588,000 1.33% 4th - 4th −3 −5
Democratic Party (DPJ) 21,814,154.230 36.66% 105 22,095,636 37.39% 72 177 +50 +40
Communist Party of Japan (CPJ) 4,837,952,810 8.13% 0 4,586,172 7.76% 9 9 −11 −11
Social Democratic Party (SDP) 1,708,672.130 2.87% 1 3,027,390 5.12% 5 6th −13 −12
Mushozoku no Kai ( 無 所属 の 会 , "Assembly of Independents") 497,108,000 0.84% 1 - 1 −4 −4
Jiyū Rengō ( 自由 連 合 , "Liberal League") 97,423,000 0.16% 1 - 1 ± 0 ± 0
Others 51,524,000 0.09% 0 - 0 -22 ± 0
Independent 2,728,118,000 4.58% 11 - 11 −4 +6
total 59,502,373.969 100% 300 59.102.827 100% 180 480 ± 0 +7 (vacancies)

34 of the elected MPs were women, 9 of them in the LDP and 15 in the DPJ. Three of the six SDP MPs elected were men.

Regional overview

Overview of won seats according to regional blocks
block Constituencies Proportional representation
LDP DPJ Others DPJ LDP Kōmei KPJ SDP
Hokkaidō 5 7th 0 4th 3 1 0 0
Tōhoku 14th 8th Mushozoku no Kai 1, Independent 2 5 6th 1 1 1
North Kantō 23 9 0 8th 8th 3 1 0
Tokyo 12 12 Kōmei 1 8th 6th 2 1 0
South Kantō 16 17th Kōmei 1 9 8th 3 1 1
Hokuriku - Shin'etsu 13 6th Independent 1 5 5 1 0 0
Tōkai 15th 15th NKP 2, Independent 1 9 8th 3 1 0
Kinki 19th 20th Kōmei 6, NKP 2, Independent 1 11 9 5 3 1
Chūgoku 17th 2 Independent 1 4th 5 2 0 0
Shikoku 12 1 0 2 3 1 0 0
Kyushu 22nd 8th Kōmei 1, SDP 1, Jiyū Rengō 1, Independent 5 7th 8th 3 1 2
total 168 105 27 72 69 25th 9 5

Effects

Although the LDP lost an absolute majority of the seats in the Shūgiin, it was able to maintain its position as the strongest party, mainly thanks to the strong support in the rural electorate, which has greater weight due to the constituency division . Together with the coalition partners Kōmeitō and the New Conservative Party, Prime Minister Koizumi was able to continue to rule. The DPJ consolidated its position as the strongest opposition party due to its large support in the metropolitan areas ( Tokyo Prefecture : 12 of 25 direct mandates, Kinki : 20 of 48, Tōkai : 15 of 33) and in Hokkaidō (7 of 12). The formerly strongest opposition party, the SDP, continued to lose ground and was only able to win one constituency in Okinawa . Statements by party chairman Takako Doi on North Korea had damaged her, among other things . The JCP also lost votes and mandates in view of the escalation of the two major parties. Both left-wing parties, the SDP and the KPJ, fell well below the twenty MP mark; In order to introduce a bill, the Shūgiin needs the support of at least 20 members.

Toshihiro Nikai's New Conservative Party negotiated after its election losses to join the LDP. This was completed in November 2003, whereby the LDP regained an absolute majority in the Shūgiin.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Shūgiin : Legislative Proceedings