Japan Press Weekly

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2012 December 12 - 18 TOP3 [ELECTION]

JCP obtains 8 seats in general election

In the December 16 House of Representatives general election, the Japanese Communist Party received 3.69 million votes (6.13% of all vote casts) in the proportional representation blocs and 4.7 million votes (7.89%) in the single-seat constituencies. The number of JCP seats, however, decreased by one from the pre-election total of nine.

The Democratic Party of Japan drastically lost its number of seats from 230 to 57. The voters delivered a severe verdict to the DPJ because it fell short of voters’ expectations for government change.

Winning 294 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party secured a single-party majority in the Lower House. The party will come back to power from its loss of power three years ago. As its ally, the Komei Party, has 31 seats, the LDP-Komei bloc will expand its total strength to 325, exceeding two-thirds of total seats in the chamber. This enables the two parties to pass bills in the second vote in the Lower House even if the Upper House rejects them.

Among political parties described as a “third pole”, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) won 54 seats, the Your Party 18, and the Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Japan Party) 9.

The Social Democratic Party decreased its seats from five to two.

In the 480-seats chamber, the People’s New Party and New Party Daichi obtained one seat each while the New Party Nippon and New Renaissance Party could not keep their seats.