Akashian general election, 2018

Akashian general election, 2018

30 June 2018
400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	86,3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Kōko Kaga Hiroshi Sone Rise Takashima Party SP MPP CP Last election 100 seats 20,5% PR 20,5% STV 72 seats 16,2% PR 18,5% STV 55 seats 12,4% PR 12,5% STV Seats won 75 70 58 Seat change 25 2 3 PR vote 1.301.030 1.269.297 1.031.304 % and swing 16,4% 4,1% 16,0% 0,2% 13,0% 0,6% STV vote 1.268.415 1.236.705 1.070.225 % and swing 16,0% 4,5% 15,6% 2,9% 13,5% 1,0%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Liana Ferrari Momoka Nishimura Kazunori Takata Party URP FP GP Last election 37 seats 9,6% PR 8,5% STV 29 seats 8,3% PR 7,8% STV 40 seats 10,2% PR 10,3% STV Seats won 42 41 40 Seat change 5 12 PR vote 1.007.505 602.916 832.976 % and swing 12,7% 3,1% 7,6% 0,7% 10,5% 0,3% STV vote 729.339 887.890 864.108 % and swing 9,2% 0,7% 11,2% 3,4% 10,9% 0,6%
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Kōko Kaga SP Prime Minister after election Kōko Kaga SP

A general election was held in Akashi on 30 June 2018. The Kōko Kaga government was re-elected with a minority.

With party leaderships unchanged since the last election, this proved largely a straight rematch between the Socialist Party and Moderate People's Party. Kōko's popularity remained largely steady going into the election but that of Hiroshi Sone lagged behind. Thus, both the largest parties slipped in opinion polls, with smaller parties gaining at their expense.

Notably for the election, foreign policy and civil liberties became major issues, to the benefit of Future Party leader Momoka Nishimura. The jailing of Quenminese whistleblower Ninh Tuyết Vi was strongly condemned by Momoka, who joined forces with Communist Party leader Rise Takashima to push the government to take a harder line against Quenmin.

Results

General election, 30 June 2018
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	Socialist Party	1.301.030	16,4%	-4,1%	1.268.415	16,0%	-4,5%	75	-25
	Moderate People's Party	1.269.297	16,0%	-0,2%	1.236.705	15,6%	-2,9%	70	-2
	Communist Party	1.031.304	13,0%	+0,6%	1.070.225	13,5%	+1,0%	58	+3
	United Reform Party	1.007.505	12,7%	+3,1%	729.339	9,2%	+0,7%	42	+5
	Green Party	832.976	10,5%	+0,3%	864.108	10,9%	+0,6%	40	±0
	National Cooperative Party	634.649	8,0%	-0,1%	689.701	8,7%	+1,0%	30	+4
	Future Party	602.916	7,6%	-0,7%	887.890	11,2%	+3,4%	41	+12
	National Union	571.184	7,2%	+0,4%	523.221	6,6%	+4,6%	18	+1
	Conservative National Party	222.127	2,8%	+0,1%	198.190	2,5%	-0,1%	6	-1
	Akashi Renewal Party	198.328	2,5%	+0,2%	190.262	2,4%	-0,1%	6	±0
	Independents	261.793	3,3%	+0,4%	269.538	3,4%	+0,2%	14	+3
Total		7.933.109	100%	—	7.927.593	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		9.192.478	86,3%	—	9.192.478	86,2%

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, GP	98
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU	93
Light yellow bloc	NCP, FP	71
Light blue bloc	MPP, URP	112
Dark blue bloc	CNP, ARP	12

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

The SP maintained its plurality, making this the third election in a row they had suffered losses but still finished first. Their losses this time were more modest: their vote shrank by 4% and they lost 25 seats.

The MPP had a disappointing night, suffering a slight setback of 2 seats, although they still remained the second largest party and thus the official opposition.

Most parties experienced minor seat losses or gains of between 1 and 5 seats. The main exception was the FP, which compensated for a slight decrease in PR vote by increasing its first preference votes in constituencies. Its gain of 12 seats was the largest of any of the parties.

The province map was a repeat of 2014, with the SP holding onto pluralities in the crucial Kagi and Matō, despite a strong challenge by the MPP in the latter.

In the new legislature, the pale crimson bloc fell behind the crimson bloc in total seats, which had last happened in 1998. More significantly, the two blocs combined were now short of a majority, holding 191 seats between them.

Kōko remained in office with her coalition, which could count on outside support from the CP or FP as necessary.