Japanese National Elections 2009 Insight Overview The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Japan’s opposition party, won a historic landslide victory on August 30, leading to a change in government for Japan for the first time in 54 years. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its ruling position since the formation of the party. The DPJ secured a comfortable majority of 308 out of 480 seats, while LDP acquired only 119. The DPJ plans to form a coalition with Social Democratic Party and New Nation Party, allowing them to gain control of two-thirds of the House of Representatives. Voter turnout was 69.28%, a record high in the current single-seat electorate system. The high turnout rate demonstrates the nation’s strong interest in a change of government, which was the key focal point of this elections.
Five Pledges of the Democratic Party of Japan 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The End of Wasteful Spending: Rework the national government’s 207 trillion yen budget. Ban bureaucrats’ golden parachuting. Childrearing and Education: Provide child allowances for all children until they finish junior high school and ensure a free high school education system. Pensions and Medical Care: Create a unified pension system and minimum guaranteed pension. Abolish the Health Insurance Scheme for people aged 75 and over. Regional Sovereignty: Establish regional sovereignty and greatly increase the funds under local governments’ independent control. Employment and the Economy: Reduce the corporate tax rate for small and medium sized enterprises. Strongly promote measures to prevent global warming.
Impact for Public Affairs and business
Lobbying in Japan has traditionally been dominated and carried out directly by powerful interest groups strongly connected with the LDP such as the farm lobby, the construction industry, medical associations and the local postmaster’s group. Individual lobbyists or public affairs advisors have tended to focus on providing advice and intelligence to their clients who are outside of the interest groups or less connected with the government body. It is too early to assess how DPJ’s victory impacts public affairs and business in general. However, this new Japanese government may eliminate so-called traditional ‘iron triangles’ consisting of LDP, bureaucracies and the interest groups for Japan’s informal and formal political decision making process, and lead to an expansion of the role of public affairs.
Analysis of the results The change of government was realized not because people strongly support DPJ’s manifesto, but rather because people became disillusioned and tired of the LDP’s prolonged rule. Dissatisfaction with LDP, which has been accumulating for some time, ended up in an electoral collapse in the LDP vote. DPJ pledges focused on real issues for the lives of the people, and were received favorably, while the LDP has been seen as protecting the vested interests of bureaucrats and concession groups. Contact: Tsuyoshi Takemura Managing Director Burson-Marsteller Japan Tel:＋81(0)3-3264-6701 Email:tsuyoshi.takemura@bm.com
Table with results Party
2009
Singleseat LDP Komeito DPJ Soc Demo P New Nation Communist Others
64 0 221 3 3 0 9
TOTAL
300
Proportional represent 55 21 87 4 0 9 4 180
2005 (last time)
Total
Singleseat
119 21 308 7 3 9 13
219 8 52 1 2 0 18
480
300
Proportional represent 77 23 61 6 2 9 2 180
Comp
Total 296 31 113 7 4 9 20 480
-177 -10 +195 0 -1 0 -12