Akashian general election, 2002

Akashian general election, 2002

29 June 2002
400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	85,6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Anna Carbone Momoru Matsuda Liana Ferrari Party MPP SP URP Last election 100 seats 21,0% PR 20,9% STV 77 seats 15,8% PR 13,3% STV 41 seats 10,7% PR 11,7% STV Seats won 101 74 44 Seat change 1 3 3 PR vote 1.343.073 1.082.476 735.015 % and swing 20,1% 0,9% 16,2% 0,4% 11,0% 0,3% STV vote 1.437.123 902.380 815.484 % and swing 21,5% 0,6% 13,5% 0,2% 12,2% 0,5%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jin Ueshiba Yumi Morino Toshizaku Imai Party CP FP NCP Last election 43 seats 11,1% PR 11,9% STV 35 seats 11,4% PR 10,7% STV 38 seats 9,6% PR 10,2% STV Seats won 42 33 36 Seat change 1 21 2 PR vote 728.333 694.923 654.831 % and swing 10,9% 0,2% 10,4% 1,0%1 9,8% 0,2% STV vote 708.535 688.482 641.692 % and swing 10,6% 1,3% 10,3% 0,4%1 9,6% 0,6%
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Ran Tsukuda MPP Prime Minister after election Anna Carbone MPP

A general election was held in Akashi on 29 June 2002. Anna Carbone led the incumbent centre-right government to re-election with a minority, and took over from retiring Prime Minister Ran Tsukuda.

Most of the major parties went into the election with new leaders. Having been groomed as Ran's successor, Anna ran a low-key campaign that sought to avoid mistakes. She put so much effort into presenting herself like her mentor that she was nicknamed "Ranna" — and tended to be overshadowed by United Reform Party leader and finance minister Liana Ferrari.

The Socialist Party entered the campaign with the advantage of no longer facing such a strong leftist challenge from the Communist Party, then in the midst of its return to third party size. However, new leader Momoru Matsuda found himself in a bind: he was unable to make progress against the popularity of the progressive conservatives in government, but was reluctant to tack harder to the left for fear of losing on the Communists' ground.

Having absorbed the New Frontier Party soon after the previous election, the Future Party now stood as the other major centrist party, whose support had kept Ran's government in office. It campaigned on a platform of e-democracy, open government, and digitalisation of public services, making it Akashi's closest equivalent to a pirate party.

Results

General election, 29 June 2002
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	Moderate People's Party	1.343.073	20,1%	-0,9%	1.437.123	21,5%	+0,6%	101	+1
	Socialist Party	1.082.476	16,2%	+0,4%	902.380	13,5%	+0,2%	74	-3
	United Reform Party	735.015	11,0%	+0,3%	815.484	12,2%	+0,5%	44	+3
	Communist Party	728.333	10,9%	-0,2%	708.535	10,6%	-1,3%	42	-1
	Future Party	694.923	10,4%	-1,0%1	688.482	10,3%	-0,4%1	33	-21
	National Cooperative Party	654.831	9,8%	+0,2%	641.692	9,6%	-0,6%	36	-2
	Green Party	634.786	9,5%	+0,7%	561.481	8,4%	+0,4%	34	+2
	National Union	314.052	4,7%	-0,3%	334.215	5,0%	+0.7%	15	+1
	Conservative National Party	153.685	2,3%	-0,1%	187.160	2,8%	-0,2%	6	±0
	Akashi Renewal Party	140.321	2,1%	-0,1%	180.476	2,7%	-0,1%	5	±0
	Independents	200.459	3,0%	+1,0%	227.266	3,4%	+0,2%	10	+1
Total		6.681.953	100%	—	6.684.295	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		7.806.020	85,6%	—	7.806.020	85,6%

¹ Compared to the combined total of the Future Party and New Frontier Party after their merger.

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, GP	76
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU	89
Light yellow bloc	NCP, FP	69
Light blue bloc	MPP, URP	145
Dark blue bloc	CNP, ARP	11

• Government: Moderate People's Party–United Reform Party coalition.

The election was one of the most static in modern Akashian history, and earned comparison to the 1954 and 1974 elections. No party gained or lost more than 3 seats, the blocs' strength remained roughly similar, and the provincial trends were a repeat of 1999.

Notably, the CP took comfort in having only lost one seat. This pushed them into fourth place for the first time since the 1980s, but was interpreted by leader Jin Ueshiba as a hopeful sign that the party's loss of support had been stopped, even if its chances of another shot at major party status were remote.

As before, the crimson and pale crimson blocs together outnumbered the light blue bloc, making the light yellow bloc and independents the kingmakers of the legislature.

While the NCP chose to exit the coalition with Ran's departure, it pledged to continue outside support for the centre-right. Momoru made a serious attempt to form a centre-left government backed by the left, independents, and FP, which could have a narrow majority of 7 seats. However, Liana made a stronger impression on the FP in negotiations, and the party chose to support the centre-right coalition.