Akashian general election, 2006

Akashian general election, 2006

24 June 2006
400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	83,7%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Anna Carbone Liana Ferrari Rise Takashima Party MPP URP CP Last election 101 seats 20,1% PR 21,5% STV 44 seats 11,0% PR 12,2% STV 42 seats 10,9% PR 10,6% STV Seats won 122 121 48 Seat change 21 77 6 PR vote 1.823.342 1.809.886 834.297 % and swing 27,1% 7,0% 26,9% 15,9% 12,4% 2,2% STV vote 1.733.802 1.706.921 739.218 % and swing 25,8% 4,3% 25,4% 13,2% 11,0% 0,4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Momoru Matsuda Ei Katsuragi Yumi Morino Party SP GP FP Last election 74 seats 16,2% PR 13,5% STV 34 seats 9,5% PR 8,4% STV 33 seats 10,4% PR 10,3% STV Seats won 32 26 20 Seat change 44 8 13 PR vote 518.071 437.333 417.148 % and swing 7,7% 8,5% 6,5% 3,0% 6,2% 4,2% STV vote 557.773 537.613 524.173 % and swing 8,3% 5,2% 8,0% 0,4% 7,8% 2,5%
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Anna Carbone MPP Prime Minister after election Anna Carbone MPP

A general election was held in Akashi on 24 June 2006. The Anna Carbone government was re-elected in a landslide, and the election was the second to be nicknamed a "blue wave" (Miranian: 青い波 aoi nami) after 1986.

Anna Carbone had won broad popularity for her stable governance, presiding over steady economic growth, progressive social policies, and an expansion of cooperatives and the public sector. Her government was seen as a favourite for re-election, but several factors converged to produce the "blue wave".

The Socialist Party under Momoru Matsuda tried to moderate its image and move towards social democracy. This incensed the party base and dampened turnout among supporters. Finance minister Liana Ferrari, who had spent the last decade making the United Reform Party a conservative socialist party, seized on the SP disunity and turmoil.

Already famous for her flamboyant public profile and boisterous image, Liana ran an energetic and populist campaign, seeking to outflank the SP from the left. She promised great increases in public spending and a strengthened competition law that would crack down on big business and expand the cooperative sector. One of her famous campaign stunts was to print posters showing herself naked and pregnant, with the caption, "A great government is about to be born."

One of the few opposition politicians who managed to resist Liana's attention-grabbing campaign tactics was Communist Party leader Rise Takashima. The former health minister in the Shinobu Furukawa government, Rise was favoured by a blunt-spoken image similar to Shinobu, and energised the party campaign, despite privately expressing frustration that much of it was spent on the defensive.

Results

General election, 24 June 2006
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	Moderate People's Party	1.823.342	27,1%	+7,0%	1.733.802	25,8%	+4,3%	122	+21
	United Reform Party	1.809.886	26,9%	+15,9%	1.706.921	25,4%	+13,2%	121	+77
	Communist Party	834.297	12,4%	+2,2%	739.218	11,0%	+0,4%	48	+6
	Socialist Party	518.071	7,7%	-8,5%	557.773	8,3%	-5,2%	32	-44
	Green Party	437.333	6,5%	-3,0%	537.613	8,0%	-0,4%	26	-8
	Future Party	417.148	6,2%	-4,2%	524.173	7,8%	-2,5%	20	-13
	National Cooperative Party	376.779	5,6%	-4,2%	416.650	6,2%	-3,4%	21	-16
	National Union	148.020	2,2%	-2,5%	168.004	2,5%	-2,5%	5	-10
	Conservative National Party	127.836	1,9%	-0,4%	100.802	1,5%	-1,3%	0	-6
	Akashi Renewal Party	121.108	1,8%	-0,3%	107.523	1,6%	-1,1%	0	-5
	Independents	114.379	1,7%	-1,3%	127.683	1,9%	-1,5%	5	-5
Total		6.728.200	100%	—	6.720.162	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		8.038.471	83,7%	—	8.038.471	83,6%

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, GP	74
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU	37
Light yellow bloc	NCP, FP	41
Light blue bloc	MPP, URP	243
Dark blue bloc	CNP, ARP	0

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

The MPP and URP gained a landslide victory together: they won 54% of the PR vote and 51,2% of first preferences, and had a comfortable majority of 42 seats. Liana succeeded in winning over centre-left voters frustrated with the SP's poor leadership, propelling the URP to a second-place finish.

The centre-right swept all provinces: the URP managed to overtake the left in Kobi and Shimachi, and surpassed the MPP in Matō. The latter result was somewhat surprising to analysts, but reflected Liana's prominence in the campaign and the way she overshadowed the lower-key Anna.

The election was an unequivocal disaster for the pale crimson bloc. The SP lost 44 seats and fell to fourth place, a more humiliating result than 1986 since now they weren't even the largest opposition party. Despite the frustration of losing their stronghold of Kobi, the CP held steady and won 6 more seats, making Rise the leader of the opposition.

One of the few developments welcomed across the spectrum was the dark blue bloc being once again shut out of the legislature. The CNP and ARP lost the constituency seats that had qualified them for party list seats, and their PR vote fell further from the 3% election threshold.

Anna's coalition easily continued in office, no longer needing support from the light yellow bloc or independents. Kyō! would later describe this term as "Liana's hubris": despite her success as finance minister, the public grew tired of her positioning herself as a future Prime Minister, including a quixotic campaign to merge the SP with the URP. By the next election, her "heir apparent" status and belief in a "permanent centre-right majority" (inspired by Róisín Ní Bradáin) backfired.