Akashian general election, 1980

Akashian general election, 1980

28 June 1980
200 seats in the National Assembly 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	90,4%
First party Second party Third party   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 14 4 8 PR vote 592.372 564.164 507.748 % and swing 10,5% 9,5% 10,0% 1,0% 9,0% 4,2% STV vote 675.499 647.354 450.333 % and swing 12,0% 13,2% 11,5% 4,5% 8,0% 3,8%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   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 51 6 6 PR vote 490.823 575.448 473.898 % and swing 8,7% 2,9%1 10,2% 1,3% 8,4% 2,9% STV vote 422.187 607.949 433.445 % and swing 7,5% 2,4%1 10,8% 0,2% 7,7% 4,7%
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
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".