House of Councillors

The Sangiin (Japanese参议院, literally " House of Councillors ", referred to in Western publications isolated as Senate ) is the upper house of Kokkai, the Japanese Parliament. It has 242 members, of which all three years, the half is elected. The Sangiin is the Shūgiin, the lower house, ancillary, which determines the Prime Minister and the legislation has a preponderance.

• 4.1 Following Group

History

After the Meiji Constitution of 1889, Japan was konstitutionalisiert by Prussian and British models and established a bicameral parliament. As the House of Lords the Kizokuin (贵族 院, mansion ) was created, were allowed to be members of the as in the UK, only members of the nobility ( Kazoku ). In the Constitution of 1947, the Kizokuin was abolished and replaced by the selected Sangiin.

Composition and election

The Sangiin is elected every three years for half of the term of office of the members is six years. After reforms in 2000, sitting in Sangiin 242 deputies. In Sangiin - elections 73 members are elected directly, the 47 prefectures serve as constituencies. In each constituency are elected to five MPs by simple non- transferable vote - the same as in the single-seat constituencies with a simple majority vote. The remaining 48 deputies are determined nationally by proportional representation. Since the election of 2001, the voters have the opportunity to take by specifying a single candidate of a party list affect which candidates are elected (similar to the preferential vote in Austria but without quorum: the order of the list of candidates, and the potential substitutes, it follows quite the number of preference votes ). By 1980, the entire country was a comprehensive constituency in which candidates and not party lists were also elected at the point of proportional representation.

Vacancies shall be filled in the constituencies by -elections in April or October, within three months of regular elections, or in relation constituency, however, by substitutes. Fallen Sangiin regular elections with a by-election for a vacancy in the not standing for election half of the chamber together, they will be carried out as a joint election: In a regular two- mandate constituency, for example, So three members are elected, the two candidates with the highest shares of votes for six years to be elected third for three years.

The number of directly elected members from the prefectures, of which half is chosen per choice is, since 2013, as follows (Due to an adjustment of the mandate to the population figures are four prefectures represented temporarily by an odd number of members ):

The choices are Japanese citizens over 30 who are not convicted for electoral crimes, corruption or serious crimes. In constituencies An incoming candidate must deposit of registering 3,000,000 yen, which will be refunded when they receive at least one-eighth of the valid votes.

In order to deliver a proportional representation list, a party must either already have five deputies in Kokkai or in the last elections at least two percent of the vote ( proportional representation or constituencies ) have received. Parties must list per candidate deposit a sum of 6,000,000 yen, a refund will be made if a total of half the number of the party's candidate list are selected as spaces are available.

Since 2013 Masaaki Yamazaki ( Liberal Democratic Party, Fukui ) President of Sangiin, Azuma Koshiishi ( Democratic Party, Yamanashi ) is Vice President. Both are formally non-attached.

Competencies

In the legislation, the Sangiin is subordinate to the Shūgiin that can enforce a law in case of conflict with a two-thirds majority. In the election of the Prime Minister, in international treaties and the budget vote of the Shūgiin is crucial; place over a passed in Shūgiin international treaty or the budget in Sangiin within 30 days, no vote is taken, it shall be deemed accepted. Only certain personnel nominations the approval of both houses is required. The initiation of referendums on constitutional amendments must be approved in both chambers by a two -thirds majority.

The Sangiin can adopt which, however, not binding pulls the resignation by itself against the Prime Minister or individual ministers a " Rügeresolution " (问责 决议, monseki ketsugi ). This has happened so far ten times, in 1998 against the head of the Defense Agency Fukushiro Nukaga, 2008 against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, 2009 against Prime Minister Taro Aso and 2010 against the State Minister Yoshito Sengoku and Sumio Mabuchi, 2011 against Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and the director of the National Public Safety Commission Kenji Yamaoka, 2012 Transport Minister Takeshi Maeda and against Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka and 2013 against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. All ten were in a " twisted parliament " that is decided with an opposition majority in the Sangiin.

Institutional reform

Since the Sangiin is subordinate to the Shūgiin in all decisive questions, since its establishment, there is already a debate about reform or abolition of the Sangiin. Proponents of a federal element in the Japanese political system argue for a transformation into a regional chamber that represents the prefectures or regions. Until now, the status quo remained intact, only in comparison to the Shūgiin greater inequality of choice - in extreme cases, 1992, the voters in Tottori had a 6.5 -fold voting power over those in Kanagawa - has been repeatedly held by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional and corrected by constituency reforms.

After the first significant loss of government majority ( Nejire Kokkai ) in 1989 Sangiin election the political weight of Sangiin had initially increased as the government parties usually did not have a two-thirds majority in Shūgiin and generally tried to reach a consensus between the two chambers. For the first time since 1951, attacked a government in 2008 during the anti-terrorism law to the middle of the two-thirds majority in Shūgiin to overrule an opposition majority in the Sangiin. If a government has a two -thirds majority in Shūgiin and deploying them, the institutional imbalance of power comes into play: Then the Sangiin can delay a bill, but not prevent it.

Last election and current composition

The last Sangiin - election on July 4, 2013 led to the following result:

After fraction

The parliamentary factions have (as of March 16, 2014 ) the following strengths:

Seating arrangements

• JCP: 11
• SDP: 3
• Kōmeitō: 20
• LDP: 113
• Non-attached: 3
• Seikatsu no Tō: 2
• Democratic Party / Shinryokufūkai: 59
• Shinto Kaikaku / Mushozoku no Kai: 3
• Minna: 18
• Ishin: 9

The seating arrangement of the fractions is determined by the President of the Chamber at the beginning of a session does not correspond to the political left-right assignments, as in some other parliaments, eg the Bundestag, the case (see Political spectrum # seating arrangements in some parliaments ). Instead, the strongest group is placed in the center, the smaller groups right and left of it. Thus, the Communists and Socialists were, for example, in a 55 - party system long right, the ruling Liberal Democrats in the center and the center-left opposition from Democratic Socialists and Kōmeitō left. At the first meeting of the Sangiin 1947 the deputies were placed according to seniority. In the 22nd legislature was the seating arrangement at the beginning in July 2010 from right to left: CPY, Minna no Tō, Tachiagare Nippon, LDP, non-attached MEPs, DPJ, NVP, SDP, Kōmeitō. In the current 23 election, the CPY sits on the far left instead of the current far right. Within the groups, MPs are placed on the number of re- elections.