Akashian general election, 2002

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Akashian general election, 2002

← 1999 29 June 2002 2006 →

400 seats in the National Assembly
201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout85,6%
  First party Second party Third party
  AnnaCarbone-small.jpg Yukihisa Fujita.jpg LianaFerrari-2000(small).png
Leader Anna Carbone Momoru Matsuda Liana Ferrari
Party MPP SP URP
Last election 100 seats
21,0% PR
20,9% STV
77 seats
15,8% PR
13,3% STV
41 seats
10,7% PR
11,7% STV
Seats won 101 74 44
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 3 Increase 3
PR vote 1.343.073 1.082.476 735.015
% and swing 20,1%
Decrease 0,9%
16,2%
Increase 0,4%
11,0%
Increase 0,3%
STV vote 1.437.123 902.380 815.484
% and swing 21,5%
Increase 0,6%
13,5%
Increase 0,2%
12,2%
Increase 0,5%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Kimie Hatano.jpg
Leader Jin Ueshiba Yumi Morino Toshizaku Imai
Party CP FP NCP
Last election 43 seats
11,1% PR
11,9% STV
35 seats
11,4% PR
10,7% STV
38 seats
9,6% PR
10,2% STV
Seats won 42 33 36
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 21 Decrease 2
PR vote 728.333 694.923 654.831
% and swing 10,9%
Decrease 0,2%
10,4%
Decrease 1,0%1
9,8%
Increase 0,2%
STV vote 708.535 688.482 641.692
% and swing 10,6%
Decrease 1,3%
10,3%
Decrease 0,4%1
9,6%
Decrease 0,6%

Akashi-election-general-1999.png
Most voted party by province

Prime Minister before election

Ran Tsukuda
MPP

Prime Minister after election

Anna Carbone
MPP

A general election was held in Akashi on 29 June 2002. Anna Carbone led the incumbent centre-right government to re-election with a minority, and took over from retiring Prime Minister Ran Tsukuda.

Most of the major parties went into the election with new leaders. Having been groomed as Ran's successor, Anna ran a low-key campaign that sought to avoid mistakes. She put so much effort into presenting herself like her mentor that she was nicknamed "Ranna" — and tended to be overshadowed by United Reform Party leader and finance minister Liana Ferrari.

The Socialist Party entered the campaign with the advantage of no longer facing such a strong leftist challenge from the Communist Party, then in the midst of its return to third party size. However, new leader Momoru Matsuda found himself in a bind: he was unable to make progress against the popularity of the progressive conservatives in government, but was reluctant to tack harder to the left for fear of losing on the Communists' ground.

Having absorbed the New Frontier Party soon after the previous election, the Future Party now stood as the other major centrist party, whose support had kept Ran's government in office. It campaigned on a platform of e-democracy, open government, and digitalisation of public services, making it Akashi's closest equivalent to a pirate party.

Results

General election, 29 June 2002
Akashi-election-gen-2002.svg
Party Party list Constituency Total
seats
+/-
PR % +/− STV % +/−
Moderate People's Party 1.343.073 20,1% -0,9% 1.437.123 21,5% +0,6% 101 +1
Socialist Party 1.082.476 16,2% +0,4% 902.380 13,5% +0,2% 74 -3
United Reform Party 735.015 11,0% +0,3% 815.484 12,2% +0,5% 44 +3
Communist Party 728.333 10,9% -0,2% 708.535 10,6% -1,3% 42 -1
Future Party 694.923 10,4% -1,0%1 688.482 10,3% -0,4%1 33 -21
National Cooperative Party 654.831 9,8% +0,2% 641.692 9,6% -0,6% 36 -2
Green Party 634.786 9,5% +0,7% 561.481 8,4% +0,4% 34 +2
National Union 314.052 4,7% -0,3% 334.215 5,0% +0.7% 15 +1
Conservative National Party 153.685 2,3% -0,1% 187.160 2,8% -0,2% 6 ±0
Akashi Renewal Party 140.321 2,1% -0,1% 180.476 2,7% -0,1% 5 ±0
Independents 200.459 3,0% +1,0% 227.266 3,4% +0,2% 10 +1
Total 6.681.953 100% 6.684.295 100% 400
Registered voters and turnout 7.806.020 85,6% 7.806.020 85,6%

1 Compared to the combined total of the Future Party and New Frontier Party after their merger.

Bloc strength
Bloc Parties Seats
Crimson bloc CP, GP 76
Pale crimson bloc SP, NU 89
Light yellow bloc NCP, FP 69
Light blue bloc MPP, URP 145
Dark blue bloc CNP, ARP 11

The election was one of the most static in modern Akashian history, and earned comparison to the 1954 and 1974 elections. No party gained or lost more than 3 seats, the blocs' strength remained roughly similar, and the provincial trends were a repeat of 1999.

Notably, the CP took comfort in having only lost one seat. This pushed them into fourth place for the first time since the 1980s, but was interpreted by leader Jin Ueshiba as a hopeful sign that the party's loss of support had been stopped, even if its chances of another shot at major party status were remote.

As before, the crimson and pale crimson blocs together outnumbered the light blue bloc, making the light yellow bloc and independents the kingmakers of the legislature.

While the NCP chose to exit the coalition with Ran's departure, it pledged to continue outside support for the centre-right. Momoru made a serious attempt to form a centre-left government backed by the left, independents, and FP, which could have a narrow majority of 7 seats. However, Liana made a stronger impression on the FP in negotiations, and the party chose to support the centre-right coalition.