Akashian general election, 1990

Akashian general election, 1990

10 March 1990
400 seats in the National Assembly 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	91,0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Shinobu Furukawa Ran Tsukuda Kōsaku Ayuzawa Party CP MPP SP Last election 34 seats 8,9% PR 8,8% STV N/A 41 seats 10,5% PR 10,0% STV Seats won 107 86 40 Seat change 73 86 1 PR vote 1.430.477 957.852 598.658 % and swing 22,7% 13,8% 15,2% New 9,5% 1,0% STV vote 1.517.031 1.057.516 711.305 % and swing 24,1% 15,3% 16,8% New 11,3% 1,3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ei Katsuragi Toshizaku Imai Hatsu Murai Party GP NCP NFP Last election 27 seats 5,0% PR 5,0% STV 34 seats 10,0% PR 9,7% STV N/A Seats won 37 36 32 Seat change 10 2 32 PR vote 586.054 573.451 535.641 % and swing 9,3% 4,3% 9,1% 0,9% 8,5% New STV vote 535.053 629.474 509.874 % and swing 8,5% 3,5% 10,0% 0,3% 8,1% New
Most voted party by province
Prime Minister before election Ichirō Kondō CNP Prime Minister after election Shinobu Furukawa CP

A general election was held in Akashi on 10 March 1990. This was a snap election caused by the Ichirō Kondō government's collapse. It was nicknamed the "red wave" (Miranian: 赤い波 akai nami) for the victory of the Communist Party.

Ichikon's deposal of Ran Tsukuda on 25 December 1989 shocked the public, and brought the neoliberal conspiracy into the open. His plan was to take advantage of the Conservative National Party's near-majority through internal purges and ally with the Freedom League and Akashi Renewal Party to push through a radical neoliberal program. This caused a general strike and the greatest mass protests since the Summer of Freedom. A crushing referendum defeat after President Emi Hanamura vetoed the program caused a snap election.

Public disgust with the neoliberal conspiracy translated into a surge of leftist support. The bulk of this went to the Communist Party, whose leader Shinobu Furukawa appealed to the public with her tough, straight-talking demeanour. Shinobu ran an aggressive anti-neoliberal campaign, proclaiming that "The nineties will be communist!".

Ousted Prime Minister Ran Tsukuda also launched a reorganisation of the centre-right, taking her faction out of the CNP and forming the Moderate People's Party. United Akashi agreed to merge with the MPP right off, but negotiations with the other centre-right parties didn't progress quickly enough. The MPP did manage to conclude informal alliances with the Liberal Party, National Democratic Party, and Reform Party.

This was one of the most heated Akashian election campaigns in history, with right-wing parties' events being disrupted and attacked by left-wing supporters. The AKH leaders' debate was famously unruly: Shinobu punched Ichikon at one point, hard enough to cause a nosebleed, and at the end of the debate, stared directly at the camera and declared, "Vote for the Communist Party, and I will make sure these traitorous bastards rot in prison!".

Results

General election, 10 March 1990
Party		Party list			Constituency			Total seats	+/-
		PR	%	+/−	STV	%	+/−
	Communist Party	1.430.477	22,7%	+13,8%	1.517.031	24,1%	+15,3%	107	+73
	Moderate People's Party	957.852	15,2%	+15,2%	1.057.516	16,8%	+16,8%	86	+86
	Socialist Party	598.658	9,5%	-1,0%	711.305	11,3%	+1,3%	40	-1
	Green Party	586.054	9,3%	+4,3%	535.053	8,5%	+3,5%	37	+10
	National Cooperative Party	573.451	9,1%	-0,9%	629.474	10,0%	+0,3%	36	+2
	New Frontier Party	535.641	8,5%	+8,5%	509.874	8,1%	+8,1%	32	+32
	Liberal Party	277.273	4,4%	+1,1%	176.253	2,8%	±0,0%	12	+1
	National Democratic Party	264.670	4,2%	+0,5%	151.074	2,4%	-1,0%	11	-2
	Reform Party	245.765	3,9%	+0,7%	157.368	2,5%	-0,5%	10	-1
	National Union	233.161	3,7%	+0,7%	201.432	3,2%	+1,4%	10	±0
	Justice Party	220.558	3,5%	+1,0%	169.958	2,7%	+1,3%	9	+8
	Social Credit Party	201.653	3,2%	+0,8%	188.842	3,0%	+1,0%	7	+7
	Conservative National Party	69.318	1,1%	-39,5%	81.832	1,3%	-40,2%	0	-200
	Freedom League	56.715	0,9%	-0,9%	75.537	1,2%	-1,4%	0	-2
	Akashi Renewal Party	50.413	0,8%	-0,8%	62.947	1,0%	-1,3%	0	-1
	Independents	N/A			69.242	1,1%	-1,4%	3	+1
Total		6.301.660	100%	—	6.294.735	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		6.924.901	91,0%	—	6.924.901	90,9%

Bloc strength
Bloc	Parties	Seats
Crimson bloc	CP, SCP, GP	151
Pale crimson bloc	SP, NU, JP, NFP	91
Light yellow bloc	NCP	36
Light blue bloc	MPP, LP, NDP, RP	119
Dark blue bloc	CNP, ARP, FL	0

• Government: Communist Party–Socialist Party–Green Party–Social Credit Party–Justice Party coalition.

The CP won a plurality for the first time in a general election. Shūkan Gendai noted a high degree of split-ticket voting, as even centre-right voters gave their party list or first preference vote to the CP in order to punish the neoliberal conspiracy. The public outrage was so high that the CP swept all provinces, even winning the usually conservative Takao. However, their peak of 22–24% of the vote and 107 seats showed voters were very cautious about giving any party an outsized lead after the "blue wave" of 1986 backfired on them.

Ran's MPP achieved a respectable debut, finishing second with 15–16% of the vote and 86 seats. She thus brought the core of her support to the new party, but lost many floating voters who saw Shinobu as the best leader for punishing the neoliberal conspiracy. However, she obtained a personal triumph: all members of the red rice group were returned in their constituencies with even larger majorities. The SP, having previously bled supporters due to an attempted move to the centre, lost one seat and was shoved into third place.

Another notable debut was that of the New Frontier Party, whose high hopes at their foundation a year earlier were overtaken by the course of events. Nevertheless, they succeeded in finishing sixth with around 8% of the vote and 32 seats.

The crimson bloc became the largest in the National Assembly, guaranteeing a left-wing government. The dark blue bloc suffered a complete wipeout, losing all their seats. The CNP's dramatic collapse, losing up to 40% of the vote and all 200 seats, made it the worst defeat for a ruling party in Eracuran history.

Shinobu formed a largely crimson–pale crimson coalition, although she accepted outside support from the New Frontier Party and National Union instead of formally including them in the government. The government technically had a minority of 200 seats — ironically, the same number that the CNP had won in 1986 — but could rely on NFP, NU, and NCP support, as well as independents.