Akashian general election, 1972

Akashian general election, 1972

29 April 1972
200 seats in the National Assembly 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	89,2%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Tarō Yukimura Seiji Okada Naoko Nemoto Party SP CP NCP Last election 22 seats 12,0% PR 11,5% STV 9 seats 6,1% PR 4,0% STV 14 seats 10,0% PR 9,0% STV Seats won 40 26 25 Seat change 18 17 11 PR vote 1.126.301 520.601 590.682 % and swing 22,5% 10,5% 10,4% 4,3% 11,8% 1,8% STV vote 1.383.493 789.140 499.456 % and swing 27,7% 16,2% 15,8% 11,8% 10,0% 1,0%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Fumiaki Nonaka Hikaru Katayama Masaki Ōshiro Party LP AP NU Last election 10 seats 6,3% PR 4,7% STV 10 seats 6,4% PR 5,5% STV 101 seats 21,8% PR 50,5% STV Seats won 24 20 17 Seat change 14 10 84 PR vote 435.503 365.422 350.405 % and swing 8,7% 1,4% 7,3% 0,9% 7,0% 21,5% STV vote 419.543 424.538 449.510 % and swing 8,4% 3,7% 8,5% 3,0% 9,0% 41,5%
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Masaki Ōshiro NU Prime Minister after election Tarō Yukimura SP

A general election was held in Akashi on 29 April 1972. This was a snap election caused by the Masaki Ōshiro government losing a budget vote. According to the Constitution, the new National Assembly was only elected to complete the term of its predecessor.

This was dubbed the "election of vultures" (Miranian: ハゲタカの選挙 Hagetaka no senkyo) due to the dramatic collapse of the National Union, which went from being the largest party in the legislature to a minor party with a loss of 84 seats. Asahi Shinbun famously published an editorial cartoon the day after the election showing the other party leaders as vultures eating the carrion of the deceased NU.

The collapse of the NU brought about a political realignment, which included the consolidation of party blocs. The Akashian left was now ascendant: the Socialist Party and Communist Party became the largest parties in the legislature.

Results

General election, 29 April 1972
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	Socialist Party	1.126.301	22,5%	+10,5%	1.383.493	27,7%	+16,2%	40	+18
	National Cooperative Party	590.682	11,8%	+1,8%	499.456	10,0%	+1,0%	25	+5
	Communist Party	520.601	10,4%	+4,3%	789.140	15,8%	+11,8%	26	+17
	Liberal Party	435.503	8,4%	+1,4%	419.543	8,4%	+3,7%	24	+14
	Agrarian Party	365.422	7,3%	+0,9%	424.538	8,5%	+3,0%	20	+10
	National Union	350.405	7,0%	-21,5%	449.510	9,0%	-41,5%	17	-84
	National Democratic Party	325.376	6,5%	+0,3%	164.820	3,3%	-0,9%	11	+2
	Reform Party	310.359	6,2%	+0,2%	159.826	3,2%	+0,4%	10	+2
	United Akashi	290.335	5,8%	±0,0%	154.831	3,1%	+0,6%	10	+3
	Social Credit Party	200.231	4,0%	+1,0%	84.908	1,7%	+0,5%	4	+1
	Conservative National Party	175.202	3,5%	±0,0%	109.880	2,2%	+0,8%	3	±0
	Akashi Renewal Party	105.121	2,1%	-0,6%	54.940	1,1%	+0,1%	2	±0
	Freedom League–Tax Cuts Party	110.127	2,2%	-0,3%	49.946	1,0%	+0,2%	2	+1
	Independents	100.116	2,0%	+1,0%	249.728	5,0%	+4,1%	6	+5
Total		5.005.783	100%	—	4.994.559	100%	—	200	—
Registered voters and turnout		5.611.864	89,2%	—	5.611.864	89,0%

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, SCP	30
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU	57
Light yellow bloc	NCP, AP	45
Light blue bloc	LP, NDP, RP, UA	55
Dark blue bloc	CNP, ARP, FL, TCP	7

• Government: Socialist Party–National Cooperative Party–National Union–Agrarian Party coalition.

The SP won a plurality, although of only 40 seats, to the disappointment of party leader Tarō Yukimura. The CP and NCP finished only one seat apart due to their different performances in the party list and constituency vote.

The NU's collapse to 6th place and only 17 seats represents one of the worst defeats for a governing party in Eracura; it would later be surpassed by the Conservative National Party's complete wipeout in 1990.

On the right, the new Tax Cuts Party's hopes of achieving a breakthrough in a unity list with the Freedom League were dashed: the unity list obtained swings of less than 1% and only one extra seat.

The parliamentary mathematics made a left-wing government inevitable. The crimson and pale crimson blocs together had 87 seats, and had already begun cooperating. The light blue bloc had only one possible path to power: forming a coalition with the light yellow bloc, but it would've required independents' support to stay in office. This was a non-starter, as finance minister Naoko Nemoto had no wish to align with the right.

Tarō formed a pale crimson–light yellow coalition, with a small majority of 102 seats, and relying on outside crimson support.