|
LDP
Loses Big in July 2007 Upper House Election.
On July 29, Prime Minister Abe Shinzō
presided over one of the LDP’s worst
showings ever in an Upper House poll. The party won just 37 seats of 121 up for
election, but Abe refused to resign.
With his coalition now holding just 103 seats in the Upper House (down
from 133 before the election), Abe now faces the unenviable task of trying
to shepherd legislation through a chamber which is under the control of the
opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
The DPJ won a record 60 seats on July 29 and now holds more seats
than the LDP and Kōmeitō combined: a
total of 109.
Abe started the election campaign effectively in the hole, since
his party had done relatively poorly in the last Upper House election in
July 2004. Of the 121 members
continuing (not up for election this year), just 57 were from the LDP and Kōmeitō.
As a result, the coalition parties needed to win at least 65 seats
to hold onto a majority in the Upper House. But with a succession of corruption
scandals and news that the government had lost track of the names attached
to 50 million pension accounts (!) leading the public to turn sour on the
Abe cabinet, the coalition was able to win just 46 seats.
Although the loss of the Upper House does not force a prime
minister to resign because cabinets are elected by the more powerful Lower
House where the LDP and Kōmeitō still have
a two-thirds majority, it will make it difficult for the cabinet to win
approval for legislation. While the
Lower House can override an Upper House “veto” of any
legislation it passes with a two-third vote, this power may prove difficult
to wield if the DPJ, under wily leader Ozawa Ichirō,
is able to delay legislation until Diet sessions expire. Ozawa has threatened to use this power to
force an early Lower House election.
For detailed coverage of the election, in Japanese, please
see these websites:
UH-2007
Asahi Shimbun Election Special (in Japanese)
UH-2007
Yomiuri Shimbun Election Special (in
Japanese)
UH-2007
Nikkei Shimbun Election Special (in Japanese)
Koizumi
Wins Landslide Victory in Lower House Election (September 11, 2005).
Prime Minister
Koizumi’s risky bet paid off when his Liberal Democratic Party won a
landslide victory. His party won 296
seats, more than the party has won in any election since 1986. As a share of seats, the LDP’s 296/480 (61.7 percent) was actually larger
than the 300/511 (58.7 percent) that Nakasone won in 1986. The LDP’s
coalition partner, Kōmeitō, won another
31 seats, giving the ruling coalition a mandate to carry out the postal
reforms that had been blocked by opponents inside Koizumi’s
party. The LDP virtually swept the
single member district in Tokyo,
suburban Kanagawa, and other urban and suburban areas where the opposition
Democratic Party of Japan had been doing well. The Democrats’ seat total fell from
177 at the last election to 113 at this one. DPJ leader Okada Katsuya
resigned to take responsibility for the party’s defeat.
Koizumi called
this Lower House election two years early after failing to bully LDP
opponents of his postal privatization plan into following his lead on this
issue (he lost a critical Upper House vote on postal privatization on
August 8). After calling the
election, Koizumi did everything he could to make the election a referendum
on his postal reform plan. He
refused to allow the 37 LDP members of the Lower House who voted against
his postal reform plan to run under the LDP banner and has lined up
“assassin” candidates to run against all of the rebels who are
contesting single member district seats.
Just 17 of those “rebels” won election, most of them as
independents. It appears unlikely
that Koizumi will allow any of them back into his party since it has more
than it needs in the Lower House.
2004
Upper House Election Results: DPJ Wins More Seats than the LDP
Prime Minister
Koizumi's two-party coalition held onto its majority in the Upper House,
despite doing poorly in the election held on July 11, 2004. The result was
good enough for Koizumi to avoid having to resign to take responsibility
for the defeat, but the LDP actually won fewer seats than the DPJ (49 for
the LDP, 50 for the DPJ). The coalition retained a majority because the LDP's partner, Komeito, won
another 11 seats in this election, and because the two parties had a strong
majority among the half of the Upper House that was not up for election
this time. The balance of power in the UH after the election looks like
this: LDP 115, DPJ 82, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDPJ 5,
Independents 7. For coverage of the election by the major Japanese media
organizations, see the following:
UH-2004 Asahi Shimbun Election Special (in Japanese)
Lower House Election News from
November 2003
The ruling
coalition led by Prime Minister Koizumi held onto power by winning 275
seats in the Lower House election held on November 9, 2003. Meanwhile the
Democratic Party of Japan bolstered its claim to being the only viable
alternative to the LDP in the emerging two-party system by winning 177
seats, a postwar record for a party other than the LDP. Click here for a breakdown of the
results by party. For an archive of election coverage and complete
district-by-district results, check out the 2003 election special websites
of the major Japanese media organizations.
The 2003 Nikkei Shimbun Election Special (in Japanese)
The Best
Japanese-Language Websites on Japanese Politics
The best
Japanese-language websites on Japanese politics, other than those
maintained by the major newspapers and linked above, are Seiron and Senkyo Johokan. The frequently updated Seiron site
analyzes the parties' platforms to assist voters in choosing a party. The Senkyo Johokan site provides election results for all
Japanese elections (including by-elections) going back to the Upper House
election in 2001 and the Lower House election of 2000.
|
