At stake
in this election:
- Seats in the House
of Representatives: 480
|
Description
of government structure:
- Parliament: Japan
has a bicameral Diet (Kokkai) composed of a House of Councillors
(Sangi-in), and a House of Representatives (Shugi-in).
- The House of Councillors
consists of 252 members.
- The House of Representatives
consists of 480 members.
|
Description
of electoral system:
- The emperor is
a hereditary monarch.
- The prime minister
is designated by the Diet.
- In the House of
Councillors, 152 members are elected by simple majority vote in 47 geographical
constituencies and 100 members are elected by a party-list proportional
representation system.
- In the House of
Representatives, 300 members are elected by simple majority vote in
single-member constituencies and 180 members are elected by a party-list
proportional representation system.
|
Results of the
electoral races:
- Party: Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP)
Leader: Yoshiro MORI
Seats won in this election: 233
Seats won in last election: 239
- Party: Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ)
Leader: Yukio HATOYAMA
Seats won in this election: 127
Seats won in last election: 52
(*Note: Since the last election, the DPJ merged with
several smaller parties and several parliamentary members of the Social
Democratic Party and Shinshin Party joined. With these additional members,
the DPJ held 96 seats in the House of Representatives prior to the June
25th election.)
- Party: New Komeito
Party
Leader: Takenori KANZAKI
Seats won in this election: 31
Seats won
in last election: NA
- Party: The
Liberal Party (LP)
Leader: Ichiro OZAWA
Seats won in this election: 22
Seats won in last election: NA (formed since last election)
- Party: Japanese
Communist Party (JCP)
Leader: Tetsuzo FUWA
Seats won in this election: 20
Seats won in last election: 26
- Party: Social
Democratic Party of Japan (SDPJ)
Leader: Takako DOI
Seats won in this election: 19
Seats won in last election: 15
- Party: New
Conservative Party
Leader: Chikage Ohgi
Seats won in this election: 7
Seats won in last election: NA (formed since last election)
|
When
was the last election? Number of seats in last election?
- Last Election to
the House of Representatives: October 20, 1996
- Seats decided in
the last election: 500
|
Population
and number of registered voters:
- Population: 126,792,769
(Dec. 1999 est.)
- Number of registered voters: 100,153,540 (Sept. '99)
|
Of Interest:
- Yoshiro Mori called parliamentary elections
shortly after assuming the position of prime minister from his predecessor,
Keizo Obuchi, who suffered a stroke in early April. Elections to the
House of Representatives were not required to take place until September
or October 2000.
- Economic conditions will be a featured
issue in the campaign due to the fragile Japanese economy and record
unemployment.
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| SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES) |
| For additional information:
IFES ElectionGuide Online |
