Japanese House of Councillors election, 2007

Japanese House of Councillors election, 2007

July 29, 2007
121 (of the 242) seats in the House of Councillors 122 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ichirō Ozawa Shinzō Abe Akihiro Ota Party Democratic Liberal Democratic Komeito Leader since 7 April 2006 20 September 2006 30 September 2006 Last election 82 seats, 37.8% 115 seats, 30.0% 24 seats, 15.4% Seats after 109 83 20 Seat change 28 27 3 Popular vote 23,256,247 16,544,671 7,765,329 Percentage 39.5% 28.1% 13.2% Swing 1.7% 1.9% 3.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kazuo Shii Mizuho Fukushima Tamisuke Watanuki Party Communist Social Democratic People's New Leader since 24 November 2000 15 November 2003 17 August 2005 Last election 9 seats, 7.8% 5 seats, 5.4% New party Seats after 7 5 4 Seat change 2 1 0 Popular vote 4,407,932 2,634,713 1,269,209 Percentage 7.5% 4.5% 2.2% Swing 0.3% 0.9% N/A   Seventh party   Leader Yasuo Tanaka Party New Party Nippon Leader since 21 August 2005 Last election New party Seats after 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 1,770,707 Percentage 3.0% Swing N/A
Seats won by ■ – DPJ ■ – LDP ■ – NKP ■ – JCP ■ – PNP ■ – SDP ■ – Independent factions ■ – No election
President of the House of Councillors before election Chikage Oogi Liberal Democratic Elected President of the House of Councillors Satsuki Eda Democratic

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The 21st Elections to the House of Councillors (第21回参議院議員通常選挙, Dainijūikkai Sangiingiin Tsūjōsenkyo) for the upper house of the legislature of Japan were held on July 29, 2007.^[1][2] The date was originally to be July 22, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided in mid-June to extend the session of the House for a week to finish up legislative business; this step was criticised due to the short-term delay.^[3]

The House of Councillors consists of 242 members who serve six-year terms. Approximately half the members are elected every three years. The last election took place in 2004 when Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's predecessor, was in office.

The house ended its 166th session on July 5, 2007, marking the unofficial beginning of campaign. The official campaign began on July 12.^[4]

The ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito lost control, creating the first divided Diet (opposition control of the House of Councillors) since 1999. The LDP became the second party for the first time, while the DPJ became first party for the first time.

Background

House of Councillors Composition prior to 2007 election

The DPJ had 79 seats (82 including shin-ryokufukai) after the 2004 Upper House elections, winning 50 out of the 121 up for election, gaining 12, compared to the LDP's 49. As of February 17, 2007, the DPJ held 82 seats to the LDP's 111.

Ichirō Ozawa, the leader of the DPJ, addressed a workers' May Day rally in Yoyogi Park on April 28, 2007 setting out the party's agenda for the election. He pledged that the key policy areas would be an end to 'self-righteous' government, pension and medical reforms, and that the DPJ would 'stand in the shoes of workers, residents, and taxpayers'.

Reports throughout 2007 showed Shinzō Abe's approval ratings falling,^[5] and public support for the DPJ's position on the recent pension scandal.^[6] Several other scandals right up until the start of official campaigning did not improve the outlook for the LDP.^[1]

Results

Results of the election.

House of Councillors composition after 2007 election

According to results by NHK, the LDP lost its majority in the Upper House. Meanwhile, the DPJ managed to gain the largest margin since its formation in 1996.^[7] LDP's coalition partner New Komeito lost 3 of its twelve seats.^[7][8] Although the opposition made it clear that they intended to officially ask for Abe's resignation, he vowed to "continue pitching" for leadership.^[9]

Most of the candidates who received international coverage were defeated in the elections - including Alberto Fujimori, Kaori Tahara, Kanako Otsuji, Yoshiro Nakamatsu, and Yuko Tojo.^[10] Notable candidates who were elected included iconoclastic former Nagano governor Yasuo Tanaka, who achieved one seat for his own New Party Nippon, and ethnic Finn Marutei Tsurunen, who was re-elected with the sixth-highest vote count on the DPJ party list.

The election resulted in the removal of numerous LDP councillors representing doctors, dentists, the construction industry and other special interest groups. Historically, such individuals had been elected solely by the votes of members of their own industries.^[11]

Summary

Election results (Total)

 Summary of the 29 July 2007 Japanese House of Councillors election results^[12]

Parties		Prefectural constituency vote			National PR vote			Elected in 2007	Not up	Total seats	+/−[13]
		Votes[14]	%	Seats	Votes[15]	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō	18,606,193.000	31.35	23	16,544,696	28.1	14	37	46	83	27
	New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō	3,534,672.000	5.96	2	7,762,324	13.2	7	9	11	20	3
	Ruling centre-right coalition	22,140,865.000	37.31	25	24,307,020	41.3	21	46	57	103	30
	Democratic Party (DPJ) Minshutō	24,006,817.693	40.45	40	23,256,242	39.5	20	60	49	109	28
	Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō	1,352,018.000	2.28	0	2,637,716	4.5	2	2	3	5	1
	People's New Party (PNP) Kokumin Shintō	1,111,005.000	1.87	1	1,269,220	2.2	1	2	2	4	0
	New Party Nippon (NPN) Shintō Nippon	–			1,770,697	3.0	1	1	0	1	1
	Centre-left opposition	26,469,840.693	44.60	41	28,933,875	49.1	24	65	54	119	28
	Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō	5,164,572.184	8.70	0	4,407,937	7.5	3	3	4	7	2
	Others	477,182.472	0.80	0	1,264,841	2.1	0	0	0	0	0
	Independents[16]	5,095,168.460	8.59	7	–			7	6	13	6
Total		59,347,628.809	100.00	73	58,913,700	100.00	48	121	121	242	2 (vacancies)
Turnout[17]		58.64%			58.63%			–

Proportional preference vote

Source:^[18]

Party	Party list votes	PR votes total	Top elected PR candidates with preference votes
Democratic Party (DPJ) Minshutō	18,829,335	23,256,242.307	Kumiko Aihara	507,787.000	Saori Yoshikawa	306,575.000	Ai Aoki	297,034.000
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō	10,543,574	16,544,696.515	Yōichi Masuzoe	470,571.000	Toshio Yamada	449,182.000	Kyoko Nakayama	385,909.714
New Komeito Party (NKP) Shin Kōmeitō	3,520,417	7,765,324.212	Kanae Yamamoto	1,027,546.325	Kentaro Koba	706,993.000	Hiroshi Yamamoto	619,837.396
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō	3,931,542	4,407,937.067	Satoshi Inoue	189,456.000	Tomoko Kami	76,877.832	Yoshiki Yamashita	55,912.849
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō	1,981,216	2,634,716.554	Seiji Mataichi	218,850.049	Tokushin Yamauchi	145,666.597
People's New Party (PNP) Kokumin Shintō	679,054	1,269,220.927	Shozaburo Jimi	117,590.000
New Party Nippon (NPN) Shintō Nippon	1,141,196	1,770,697.114	Yasuo Tanaka	458,211.810
Others	910,739	1,264,848.987

References