Japanese general election, 2000

Japanese general election, 2000

25 June 2000

All 480 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan 241 seats needed for a majority Turnout 64.45%   First party Second party   Leader Yoshirō Mori Yukio Hatoyama Party Liberal Democratic Democratic Leader since 5 April 2000 25 September 1999 Leader's seat Ishikawa-2nd Hokkaido-9th Last election 239 seats 38.63% (district) 32.76% (block) 52 seats 10.62% (district) 16.10% (block) Seats before 271 95 Seats won 233 127 Seat change 38 32 District vote 24,945,807 16,811,732 Percentage 40.97% 27.61% Swing 2.37% 16.90% Block vote 16,943,425 15,067,990 Percentage 28.31% 25.18% Swing 4.4% 9.08%

Parliamentary districts won by ■ - LDP ■ - DPJ ■ - Kōmeitō ■ - LP ■ - CP ■ - SDP ■ - Independent factions

Prime Minister before election Yoshirō Mori Liberal Democratic Prime Minister-designate Yoshirō Mori Liberal Democratic

Elections to the Shugi-In (House of Representatives) of the Japanese Diet were held on 25 June 2000.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) maintained a majority in the House of Representatives, but its total percentage of seats shrank from 65% to 56%, and its two coalition partners also lost several seats. Two cabinet members, Takashi Fukaya and Tokuichiro Tamazawa, lost their seats. The Democratic Party of Japan made major gains under the leadership of Yukio Hatoyama.^[1]

Background

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke in April 2000 and was replaced by Yoshiro Mori. Although the term limit for the House of Representatives would have been reached in October 2000, Mori dissolved the House on June 2 in what became popularly known as the Divine Nation Dissolution (神の国解散) due to a controversial statement by Mori prior to the election, which preceded a slump in government approval ratings from 40% to 20%. The LDP government advocated continued public works spending while the opposition advocated less spending and more governmental reforms.^[2]

The Social Democratic Party would leave the coalition with the LDP and re-join the opposition after years of coalition with the ideologically contrasting LDP.

Meanwhile, the Komeito Party a centrist party with roots from the Soka Gakkai based on the Nichiren Buddhist movement. Despite almost decades of opposition against the LDP. Shifted from the centre towards conservatism, And an electoral alliance between the once rivals has been in affect since the Japanese General election in 2000. For the LDP, Despite not being able to win an absolute majority of votes by itself in further elections. The Komeito party has been counted on since then to ensure a stable governing majority rule for the LDP.

Results

The House of Representatives consisted of 480 members, 300 elected from single-member constituencies and 180 elected on a proportional basis from eleven multi-member constituencies known as Block constituencies.

 Summary of the June 25 2000 Japanese House of Representatives election results^[3][4]

Alliances and parties		Local constituency vote			PR block vote			Total seats	+/−
		Votes[5]	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)	24,945,806	40.97%	177	16,943,425	28.31%	56	233	38
	Justice Party	1,231,753	2.02%	7	7,762,032	12.97%	24	31	11
	Conservative Party	1,230,464	2.02%	7	247,334	0.41%	0	7	11
	Reform Club	203,736	0.33%	0	–			0	5
	Ruling coalition	27,611,760	45.35%	191	24,952,791	41.70%	80	271	65
	Democratic Party (DPJ)	16,811,732	27.61%	80	15,067,990	25.18%	47	127	32
	Liberal Party	2,053,736	3.37%	4	6,589,490	11.01%	18	22	4
	Japan Communist Party (JCP)	7,352,844	12.08%	0	6,719,016	11.23%	20	20	6
	Social Democratic Party (SDP)	2,315,235	3.80%	4	5,603,680	9.36%	15	19	5
	Assembly of Independents	652,138	1.07%	5	151,345	0.25%	0	5	1
	Liberal League (LL)	1,071,012	1.76%	1	660,724	1.10%	0	1	0
	Others	46,945	0.08%	0	99,565[6]	0.17%	0	0	1
	Opposition parties	30,243,642	49.78%	94	34,891,810	58.30%	100	194	35
	Independents	2,967,069	4.87%	15	–			15	11
Totals		60,822,471	100.00%	300	59,844,601	100.00%	180	480	19 (PR blocks: -20, 1 vacant seat)
Turnout		64.45% (+4.8)			62.49% (+2.87)			–

References

• Adam Carr's Election Archive

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