Akashian general election, 2022

Akashian general election, 2022

25 June 2022
400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	84,5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Liana Ferrari Keizō Takai Rise Takashima Party URP SP CP Last election 42 seats 12,7% PR 9,2% STV 75 seats 16,4% PR 16,0% STV 58 seats 13,0% PR 13,5% STV Seats won 100 64 60 Seat change 58 11 2 PR vote 1.336.823 1.129.934 1.058.318 % and swing 16,8% 4,1% 14,2% 2,2% 13,3% 0,3% STV vote 1.379.868 1.116.656 1.084.751 % and swing 17,3% 8,1% 14,0% 2,0% 13,6% 0,1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kazunori Takata Hiroshi Sone Momoka Nishimura Party GP MPP FP Last election 40 seats 10,5% PR 10,9% STV 70 seats 16,0% PR 15,6% STV 41 seats 7,6% PR 11,2% STV Seats won 36 35 46 Seat change 4 35 5 PR vote 891.215 875.301 835.514 % and swing 11,2% 0,7% 11,0% 5,0% 10,5% 2,9% STV vote 797.611 837.492 917.253 % and swing 10,0% 0,9% 10,5% 5,1% 11,5% 0,3%
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Kōko Kaga SP Prime Minister after election Mizuki Kōhara NCP

A general election was held in Akashi on 25 June 2022. It was dubbed the "juniors' election" (Miranian: 後輩の選挙 Kōhai no senkyo) due to the underperformance of the traditional large parties, and corresponding gains by the smaller parties. It resulted in the formation of a government led by Mizuki Kōhara, the first National Cooperative Party Prime Minister since Naoko Nemoto.

Kōko Kaga had announced her resignation before the election. Her successor as Socialist Party leader, Keizō Takai, was seen as a "party insider" lacking in charisma or popular appeal. However, the same issue affected Moderate People's Party leader Hiroshi Sone, contesting his fourth general election since 2010 and still struggling to connect with the public.

With the largest two parties led by uninspiring figures, the smaller parties seized the opening and dominated the election campaign. Communist Party leader Rise Takashima and Future Party leader Momoka Nishimura worked well together, building on their previous collaboration in 2018.

United Reform Party leader Liana Ferrari completed a remarkable political comeback since her humiliation during the "red wave" of 2010. She seized from Hiroshi the mantle of rallying figure for the centre-right, emphasising her ministerial record and her more sedate public image than in previous decades.

Polls remained close throughout the election campaign, contributing to a high degree of interest and media speculation in the shape of the new government to come.

Results

General election, 25 June 2022
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	United Reform Party	1.336.823	16,8%	+4,1%	1.379.868	17,3%	+8,1%	100	+58
	Socialist Party	1.129.934	14,2%	-2,2%	1.116.656	14,0%	-2,0%	64	-11
	Communist Party	1.058.318	13,3%	+0,3%	1.084.751	13,6%	+0,1%	60	+2
	Green Party	891.215	11,2%	+0,7%	797.611	10,0%	-0,9%	36	-4
	Moderate People's Party	875.301	11,0%	-5,0%	837.492	10,5%	-5,1%	35	-35
	Future Party	835.514	10,5%	+2,9%	917.253	11,5%	+0,3%	46	+5
	National Cooperative Party	636.582	8,0%	±0,0%	717.850	9,0%	+0,3%	31	+1
	National Union	557.010	7,0%	-0,2%	510.471	6,4%	-0,2%	16	-2
	Conservative National Party	190.975	2,4%	-0,4%	175.474	2,2%	-0,3%	0	-6
	Akashi Renewal Party	167.103	2,1%	-0,4%	159.522	2,0%	-0,4%	0	-6
	Independents	278.505	3,5%	+0,2%	279.164	3,5%	+0,1%	12	-2
Total		7.957.279	100%	—	7.976.113	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		9.416.898	84,5%	—	9.416.898	84,7%

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, GP	96
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU	80
Light yellow bloc	NCP, FP	77
Light blue bloc	MPP, URP	135
Dark blue bloc	CNP, ARP	0

• Government: National Cooperative Party–Communist Party–Green Party–Future Party–National Union coalition.

The SP fell to second place, although its losses of 2% of the vote and 11 seats were seen as modest. The big surprise was the MPP's fall to fifth place, losing 5% of votes and 35 seats. The URP supplanted them as the largest centre-right party and surged to a plurality of 100 seats, with gains of 4–8%.

The smaller parties once again experienced modest improvements or setbacks. The CP remained firmly in third place, gaining two seats. The FP increased its proportional vote by 2% but less so in constituencies, translating to a 4 seat gain. The NCP gained an extra seat, while the GP and NU lost 4 and 2, respectively.

The most celebrated part of the results on the night was the ejection of the dark blue bloc from the legislature — the CNP and ARP both lost their constituency seat, depriving them of the party-list seats they had qualified for.

In the new legislature, the light blue bloc held a plurality, but had only gained 23 seats. The crimson bloc still outnumbered the pale crimson bloc, which fell further behind by 13 seats. However, their combined tally was 176 seats — further away from a majority than before, but still outnumbering the light blue bloc. This put the light yellow bloc and independents in a kingmaker position.

NCP and FP leaders Mizuki Kōhara and Momoka Nishimura announced on 29 July that they would jointly refuse to support a centre-right government, citing mistrust and party discomfort. This destroyed Liana's chances of becoming Prime Minister, as the light yellow bloc was vital to obtain majority support.

In the first parliamentary votes, Liana's centre-right coalition proposal was defeated 135 to 253, with the 12 independents abstaining. However, Keizō's proposal to continue the incumbent coalition was also defeated 176 to 135, falling short of a majority due to the NCP and FP abstaining. Afterwards, Mizuki informed President Masako Owada that she was able to form a government, which provoked surprise since she led the second-smallest parliamentary party. Mizuki formed a broad-left coalition, relying on outside support from the SP.