Jump to content

2017 Japanese general election: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 133: Line 133:


===Pacifist coalition===
===Pacifist coalition===
* The '''[[Japanese Communist Party]]''' (JCP) is the [[left-wing]] [[communist]] party led by [[Kazuo Shii]] who sees its recent resurge in the [[Japanese general election, 2014|2014 House of Representative election]] due to its firm [[pacifist]] stance against revision the Article 9 of the Constitution. The party currently is the second largest opposition party, holding 12 seats in the House of Representatives.
* The '''[[Japanese Communist Party]]''' (JCP) is the [[left-wing]] [[communist]] party led by [[Kazuo Shii]] who sees its recent resurge in the [[Japanese general election, 2014|2014 House of Representative election]] due to its firm [[pacifist]] stance against revision the Article 9 of the Constitution. The party currently is the second largest opposition party, holding 12 seats in the House of Representatives. The party forms an alliance with two other left-leaning parties, the Constitutional Democrats and the Social Democrats to stop the constitutional revisionists to win two-thirds majority.
* The '''[[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan]]''' (CDPJ), a brand new [[centre-left]] [[social liberal]] party formed by [[Yukio Edano]] on 2 October 2017 by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, the then largest opposition party, after Kibō no Tō refused to nominate the liberal candidates of the Democratic Party when the party leader Seiji Maehara decided to join Kibō no Tō with the party.<ref>{{cite news|title=VOTE 2017: Edano plans to form new party as liberal force in election|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710020024.html|date=2 October 2017|work=Asahi Shimbun}}</ref> The party opposes the constitutional revision and the [[2015 Japanese military legislation|new national security legislation]].
* The '''[[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan]]''' (CDPJ), a brand new [[centre-left]] [[social liberal]] party formed by [[Yukio Edano]] on 2 October 2017 by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, the then largest opposition party, after Kibō no Tō refused to nominate the liberal candidates of the Democratic Party when the party leader Seiji Maehara decided to join Kibō no Tō with the party.<ref>{{cite news|title=VOTE 2017: Edano plans to form new party as liberal force in election|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710020024.html|date=2 October 2017|work=Asahi Shimbun}}</ref> The party opposes the constitutional revision and the [[2015 Japanese military legislation|new national security legislation]].
* The '''[[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]]''' (SPD) is the centre-left [[social democratic]] party led by [[Tadatomo Yoshida]] which currently holds 2 seats in the House of Representatives. It opposes the revision the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution.
* The '''[[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]]''' (SPD) is the centre-left [[social democratic]] party led by [[Tadatomo Yoshida]] which currently holds 2 seats in the House of Representatives. It opposes the revision the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution.

Revision as of 04:09, 8 October 2017

Japanese general election, 2017
← 2014 22 October 2017
All 465 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan
233 seats needed for a majority
  File:Governor Koike.jpg
Leader Shinzō Abe Yuriko Koike Natsuo Yamaguchi
Party Liberal Democratic Kibō no Tō Komeito
Leader since 26 September 2012 25 September 2017 8 September 2009
Leader's seat Yamaguchi-4th not contesting
(Gov. of Tokyo) 		not contesting (Coun.)
Last election 291 seats, 33.11% New 35 seats, 13.71%
Current seats 286 seats 57 seats 35 seats
 
Leader Kazuo Shii Ichirō Matsui Yukio Edano
Party Communist Ishin CDP
Leader since 24 November 2000 2 November 2015 2 October 2017
Leader's seat Minami-Kantō PR not contesting
(Gov. of Osaka) 		Saitama-5th
Last election 21 seats, 11.37% New New
Current seats 21 seats 15 seats 15 seats
 
Leader Tadatomo Yoshida Ichirō Ozawa
Party Social Democratic Liberal
Leader since 14 October 2013 25 January 2013
Leader's seat not contesting Iwate-4th
Last election 2 seat, 2.46% 2 seats, 1.93%
Current seats 2 seats 2 seats
Parliamentary districts not including proportional blocks
Incumbent Prime Minister

Shinzō Abe
Liberal Democratic



The 48th general election of members of the House of Representatives (第48回衆議院議員総選挙, dai-yonjūhachikai Shūgiin giin sōsenkyo) is due to take place on October 22, 2017. Voting will take place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan – 289 single-member districts and eleven proportional blocks – in order to appoint all 465 members (down from 475) of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the then 707-member bicameral National Diet of Japan. As the cabinet has to resign after a general House of Representatives election in the first post-election Diet session (Constitution, Article 70), the lower house election will also lead to a new designation election of the Prime Minister in the Diet, and the appointment of a new cabinet (even if the same ministers are re-appointed).

Date of the election

Under the post-occupation interpretation of Article 7 of the Constitution, the cabinet may instruct the Emperor to dissolve the House of Representatives before the end of term at will. Elections must be held within 40 days after dissolution.

The only time in postwar history that the House of Representatives was not dissolved before the end of its term was in 1976. If the House of Representatives completes a full four-year term, the election must be held within 30 days before that. Under certain conditions if the Diet is in session or scheduled to open at that time, the election could take place somewhat beyond the actual end of term under the "public offices election act" (kōshokusenkyohō).[1]

As of June 2015, the Democratic Party of Japan was reportedly preparing a roster of up to 250 candidates so as to be prepared in the event that the next general election was to be held alongside the House of Councillors election in the summer of 2016.[2]

In September 2017, the Japan Times reported that Prime Minister Abe planned to dissolve the lower house on 28 September and call an election for 22 or 29 October.[3]

Contesting parties

Ruling coalition

Koike's coalition

  • Kibō no Tō, also known as the Party of Hope, is the brand new reformist conservative party launched by Yuriko Koike, former LDP minister and incumbent Governor of Tokyo on 25 September 2017 ahead of the general election. The new party attracted former members of the LDP as well as the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party at the time, led by Seiji Maehara to join at the aims of overthrowing the Abe government.[4] Despite being tipped as the first Japan's woman Prime Minister, Koike has declined her intention to resign as governor to run in the general election. The party has promised to freeze the planned sales tax increase and promote debate on the constitutional revision.[5]
  • Nippon Ishin no Kai, also known as the Initiatives from Osaka, is a region-based party led by Governor of Osaka Ichirō Matsui. Split from the Japan Innovation Party in 2015, the party is considered conservative and right-wing. The party, which has similar policies with Kibō no Tō, has agreed to cooperate with Koike in the coming election.[6]
  • The Liberal Party (LP), transformed from the Tomorrow Party of Japan in 2016, led by veteran politician Ichirō Ozawa currently holds 2 seats in the House of Representatives. Three Liberal Party members close to Ozawa will run under the banner of Kibō no Tō while Ozaaw himself intends to run as an independent.[7]

Pacifist coalition

Polling

Voting intention (PR blocks)

Voting intention (districts)

Party approval

Preferred prime minister

Preferred outcome

Cabinet approval / disapproval ratings

Approval (blue) and Disapproval (red) Ratings for Second and Third Abe Cabinet
  1. ^ This poll is not specific to the PR blocks, but is rather a general voting-intention poll. "At the next elections, what is the party that you would like to vote for, or to which your preferred candidate belongs?".

References

  1. ^ MIC/e-gov legal database: 公職選挙法, chapter 5 (election dates), article 31 (general elections)
  2. ^ "民主、衆参同日選も想定　年内に候補者170人擁立めざす". Nihon Keizai Shimbun. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. ^ Abe poised to dissolve Lower House for snap general election. (2017, September 17). Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/17/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-likely-dissolve-lower-house-soon-snap-general-election/#.WcBg3qiPLD5
  4. ^ Yoshida, Reiji (28 September 2017). "Democratic Party effectively disbands, throwing support behind Koike's party for Lower House poll". The Japan Times. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Tokyo Gov. Koike's upstart party Kibo no To vows to halt tax hike, debate war-renouncing Article 9". Japan Times. 6 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Kibo no To and Osaka's Nippon Ishin in cautious collaboration with wide policy overlap". Japan Times. 6 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Japan's opposition races to assemble slates as tumult persists". SGA. 4 October 2017.
  8. ^ "VOTE 2017: Edano plans to form new party as liberal force in election". Asahi Shimbun. 2 October 2017.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2017_Japanese_general_election&oldid=804311560"