Akashian general election, 1982

Akashian general election, 1982

26 June 1982
400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	92,0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ran Tsukuda Kagehisa Ueki Yoshihiro Sera Party CNP SP CP Last election 21 seats 9,0% PR 8,0% STV 21 seats 10,5% PR 12,0% STV 21 seats 10,0% PR 11,5% STV Seats won 86 71 32 Seat change 65 50 11 PR vote 865.200 669.088 484.512 % and swing 15,0% 6,0% 11,6% 1,1% 8,4% 1,6% STV vote 1.260.445 690.655 575.546 % and swing 21,9% 13,9% 12,0% 10,0% 1,5%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Tomohiko Saito Toshizaku Imai Hatsue Fukuda Party GP NCP LP Last election 19 seats 8,7% PR 7,5% STV 18 seats 10,2% PR 10,8% STV 15 seats 8,0% PR 7,9% STV Seats won 31 28 27 Seat change 12 10 12 PR vote 472.976 519.120 444.136 % and swing 8,2% 0,5% 9,0% 1,2% 7,7% 0,3% STV vote 402.882 587.057 379.860 % and swing 7,0% 0,5% 10,2% 0,6% 6,6% 1,3%
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Þiudawulþus Ind Prime Minister after election Ran Tsukuda CNP

A general election was held in Akashi on 26 June 1982. The interim Þiudawulþus government passed a sweeping electoral reform beforehand, which doubled the size of the National Assembly, instituted a 3% electoral threshold, and restricted independents to running in constituencies.

Major changes had occurred during the troubled 12th Assembly. The most significant was the "kibi-yuru war" within the Conservative National Party, ending with the victory of the "soft" faction led by Ran Tsukuda in 1981. Ran launched a transformation of the CNP, purging hardliners and repositioning it as a centre-right party — in effect, moving it from the dark blue bloc to the light blue bloc. Her efforts to change the party's image extended to recruiting sanyoi candidates.

Ran became the main attraction of the election, as her promises of careful governance, economic revival, and constitutional renewal appealed to a public fed up with economic stagnation and political gridlock. The Socialist Party's campaign was weakened by its association with the "siege economy"; new leader Kagehisa Ueki's attempts to moderate its platform and express remorse for the "mistakes" of the 1970s brought the hostility of the Communist Party.

Results

General election, 26 June 1982
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	Conservative National Party	865.200	15,0%	+6,0%	1.260.445	21,9%	+13,9%	86	+65
	Socialist Party	669.088	11,6%	+1,1%	690.655	12,0%	±0,0%	71	+50
	National Cooperative Party	519.120	9,0%	-1,2%	587.057	10,2%	-0,6%	28	+10
	Communist Party	484.512	8,4%	-1,6%	575.546	10,0%	-1,5%	32	+11
	Green Party	472.976	8,2%	-0,5%	402.882	7,0%	-0,5%	31	+12
	Liberal Party	444.136	7,7%	-0,3%	379.860	6,6%	-1,3%	27	+12
	National Democratic Party	432.600	7,5%	-0,9%	362.594	6,3%	-1,4%	25	+9
	United Akashi	415.296	7,2%	-0,6%	351.083	6,1%	-2,1%	23	+7
	Reform Party	403.760	7,0%	-0,2%	345.327	6,0%	-2,4%	22	+6
	National Union	288.400	5,0%	-1,9%	155.397	2,7%	-2,1%	17	+3
	Justice Party	213.416	3,7%	+1,0%	143.886	2,5%	+0,2%	12	+6
	Social Credit Party	201.880	3,5%	+0,3%	103.598	1,8%	+0,4%	7	+4
	Freedom League	184.576	3,2%	+0,8%	120.865	2,1%	+0,1%	8	+5
	Akashi Renewal Party	173.040	3,0%	+1,0%	115.109	2,0%	+0,5%	7	+4
	Independents	N/A			161.153	2,8%	-0,6%	4	-2
Total		5.767.997	100%	—	5.755.458	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		6.269.562	92,0%	—	6.269.562	91,8%

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, SCP, GP	70
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU, JP	100
Light yellow bloc	NCP	28
Light blue bloc	LP, NDP, RP, UA, CNP	183
Dark blue bloc	ARP, FL	15

• Government: Conservative National Party–National Democratic Party–Reform Party–United Akashi–Liberal Party coalition.

The CNP won a plurality of votes and seats, the first centre-right party to do so since the Akashian Civil War. The SP finished second, with a deficit of only 15 seats. Nine other parties won between 12 and 32 seats, leading to speculation that the electoral reform was producing a two-party system.

The increased size of the National Assembly allowed every party to register gains, while the independents lost 2 seats. The CNP managed to finish first in the two most populous provinces, Kagi and Matō, but were overtaken by the LP in Takao, a somewhat surprising result given Ran's progressive conservatism and image were uniquely suited to Takao's tradition of paternalistic conservatism.

The light blue bloc became the largest, narrowly overtaking the crimson–pale crimson alignment. The defection of the CNP devastated the dark blue bloc, which saw its seats cut in half.

Ran formed a light blue coalition and secured outside support from the National Cooperative Party, whose new leadership was more amenable to working with the centre-right. This gave the government a small majority of 10 seats.

Although her government proved popular and effective, it was troubled by private tensions over cabinet posts, with crucial CNP allies such as the Morisaki family and Keiko Nakayama taking significant ministries to the annoyance of the smaller parties. The NDP, RP, UA, and LP, who had slogged through years in opposition during the 1970s, were rankled by the CNP's quick transformation and it gaining a disproportionate electoral reward in comparison.