Akashian general election, 1980

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Akashian general election, 1980

← 1978 28 June 1980 1982 →

200 seats in the National Assembly
101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout90,4%
  First party Second party Third party
  Nakano Shigeharu.jpg IchirōKondō.png
Leader Noboru Ando Seiji Okada Ichirō Kondō
Party SP CP CNP
Last election 35 seats
20,0% PR
25,2% STV
25 seats
11,0% PR
16,0% STV
13 seats
4,8% PR
4,2% STV
Seats won 21 21 21
Seat change Decrease 14 Decrease 4 Increase 8
PR vote 592.372 564.164 507.748
% and swing 10,5%
Decrease 9,5%
10,0%
Decrease 1,0%
9,0%
Increase 4,2%
STV vote 675.499 647.354 450.333
% and swing 12,0%
Decrease 13,2%
11,5%
Decrease 4,5%
8,0%
Increase 3,8%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Yorozuyo Mineko.jpg NaokoNemoto-3.jpg
Leader Hikaru Katayama Naoko Nemoto Hiroaki Kogane
Party GP NCP NDP
Last election 24 seats
11,6% PR
9,9% STV
24 seats
11,5% PR
11,0% STV
10 seats
5,5% PR
3,0% STV
Seats won 19 18 16
Seat change Decrease 51 Decrease 6 Increase 6
PR vote 490.823 575.448 473.898
% and swing 8,7%
Decrease 2,9%1
10,2%
Decrease 1,3%
8,4%
Increase 2,9%
STV vote 422.187 607.949 433.445
% and swing 7,5%
Decrease 2,4%1
10,8%
Decrease 0,2%
7,7%
Increase 4,7%

Akashi-election-general-1980.png
Most voted party by province

Prime Minister before election

Hikaru Katayama
AP

Prime Minister after election

Toshirō Kuno
JP

A general election was held in Akashi on 28 June 1980. This was a snap election caused by the Hikaru Katayama government losing a budget vote. According to the Constitution, the new National Assembly was only elected to complete the term of its predecessor.

The Socialist Party-led coalition suffered turmoil after winning a minority in 1978. Yumiko Nagatsuki resigned after a parliamentary defeat, while Hikaru Katayama struggled to improve the balance of payments situation. The economy fell into recession in 1979, which lasted until 1981, adding to the crisis situation.

The campaign was especially brutal for the SP, which found itself attacked from both the left (for Yuna's attempts at moderation) and the right (for the continued wildcat strikes and economic downturn). The Conservative National Party produced a particularly effective attack ad, highlighting how none of the SP prime ministers since 1972 had remained in office until a new election, accusing them of fleeing voters' wrath.

While opinion polls showed a decline in popularity for the left, there was no corresponding growth for the right, leading to high anticipation for the final result.

Results

General election, 28 June 1980
Akashi-election-gen-1980.svg
Party Party list Constituency Total
seats
+/-
PR % +/− STV % +/−
Socialist Party 592.372 10,5% -9,5% 675.499 12,0% -13,2% 21 -14
National Cooperative Party 575.448 10,2% -1,3% 607.949 10,8% -0,2% 18 -6
Communist Party 564.164 10,0% -1,0% 647.354 11,5% -4,5% 21 -4
Conservative National Party 507.748 9,0% +4,2% 450.333 8,0% +3,8% 21 +8
Green Party 490.823 8,7% -2,9%1 422.187 7,5% -2,4%1 19 -51
National Democratic Party 473.898 8,4% +2,9% 433.445 7,7% +4,7% 16 +6
Liberal Party 451.331 8,0% +2,0% 444.704 7,9% +1,7% 15 -3
United Akashi 440.048 7,8% +2,6% 461.591 8,2% +5,3% 16 +7
Reform Party 406.198 7,2% +2,2% 472.850 8,4% +5,6% 15 +6
National Union 389.273 6,9% +0,5% 270.200 4,8% -1,5% 14 ±0
Social Credit Party 180.533 3,2% -1,2% 78.808 1,4% -0,2% 3 -1
Justice Party 152.324 2,7% -0,5% 129.471 2,3% -0,4% 6 +1
Freedom League 135.399 2,4% +1,0% 112.583 2,0% +0,3% 3 +2
Akashi Renewal Party 112.833 2,0% +0,5% 84.437 1,5% +0,4% 3 +1
Tax Cuts Party 95.908 1,7% +0,5% 146.358 2,6% -0,4% 3 +2
Independents 73.341 1,3% -1,4% 191.391 3,4% +1,0% 6 ±0
Total 5.641.643 100% 5.629.161 100% 200
Registered voters and turnout 6.240.755 90,4% 6.240.755 90,2%

1 Compared to the combined total of the Green Party and Agrarian Party after their merger.

Bloc strength
Bloc Parties Seats
Crimson bloc CP, SCP, GP 43
Pale crimson bloc SP, NU, JP 41
Light yellow bloc NCP 18
Light blue bloc LP, NDP, RP, UA 62
Dark blue bloc CNP, ARP, FL, TCP 30
  • Government: No government formed; various interim Prime Ministers.

The election produced a hung parliament: the Socialist Party, Communist Party, and Conservative National Party were the largest parties with 21 seats each. The rest of the legislature was badly fragmented, with 7 parties at 14–19 seats.

The CNP managed to build on its previous growth in 1978, running a campaign that almost exclusively attacked the incumbent government without mentioning its actual platform. This allowed it to leap ahead of the rest of the dark blue bloc, which languished at 3 seats each, making them the smallest parties in the National Assembly.

The overall pattern was seat losses for the left and centre-left (with the exception of the Justice Party, which gained a seat), and seat gains for the centre-right and right (with the exception of the Liberal Party, which lost 3 seats).

While the light blue bloc was now the largest, it would need the support of both the dark blue and light yellow blocs to form a government, and working with the former was impossible given the bitter rivalry between them. The crimson and pale crimson blocs altogether had 84 seats, but the loss of Naoko Nemoto deprived them of the essential National Cooperative Party support.

Despite the lack of viable government, Hikaru insisted on resigning when the new Assembly took office. The new President, Masako Nakai, controversially tried to intervene in the process specifically by asking Toshirō Kuno and Mutsuhito Ōe to form governments even though their parties were among the smallest. When their interim governments failed to gain confidence, Þiudawulþus was designated as interim prime minister until the next election. Masako's popularity collapsed as a result, and the economic and political crisis produced an upsurge in demands for a "new republic".