general_election2

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP defends its 9 seats in the general election

In the 44th House of Representatives election held on September 11 amidst the "Koizumi whirlwind" pushing for postal privatization as the only issue, the Japanese Communist Party defended the 9 seats it held previously. The JCP Standing Executive Committee on September published its statement on the election results (see separate item).

In the proportional representation blocs, the JCP received about 4.912 million votes or 7.26 percent, up 333 thousand from the 2003 House of Representatives election and 557 thousand more than that of the 2004 House of Councilors election.

The Lower House has a total of 480 seats, of which 180 are elected in the 11 proportional representation blocs and 300 in single-member constituencies.

Elected JCP candidates are Takahashi Chizuko, Shiokawa Tetsuya, Kasai Akira, Shii Kazuo, Sasaki Kensho, Ishii Ikuko, Kokuta Keiji, Yoshii Hidekatsu, and Akamine Seiken.

In single-member constituencies, the JCP's 275 candidates received a total of about 4.937 million votes, or 7.3%, a slight increase from the previous 4.837 million votes in the 2003 election.

The Liberal Democratic Party won a total of 296 seats. Adding the Komei Party's 31 seats, the ruling coalition with a total of 327 seats will occupy more than two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives.

The Komei Party lost three seats from the previous election.

The Social Democratic Party got seven seats with an increase of two, and the People's New Party got four, the New Party Nippon got one, and other minor parties and independents won 19 seats. -- Akahata, September 13, 2005