Japanese general election, 2000
The Shūgiin - election in 2000 was the 42nd choice for Shūgiin, the Japanese House of Commons, and was held on 25 June 2000. Prime Minister Mori Yoshirō had become the successor of the late Keizo Obuchi in April. Even from the first day called for the opposition and left-liberal media commentary elections to make the choice Moris confirm as LDP president in a general election by the people
On May 15, Mori gave a speech to the Shinto Seiji Renmei (神道 政治 连 盟, abbreviated Shinseiren, dt ' Association of Shinto policy, " engl. Shinto Association of Spiritual Leadership, SAS), one of the LDP related religious- nationalist grouping. In his speech, Mori Japan, referred to as the "Land of the Gods with the Tennō in the center ." The opposition saw the principle of separation of religion and state and violated in opinion polls fell Moris approval ratings abruptly. On 2 June, the opposition sought in Shūgiin a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet Mori. Under Article 69 of the Japanese Constitution, the Cabinet must resign as a whole after the adoption of a no-confidence vote, unless the Shūgiin is dissolved within ten days. Rather than stand for election, Mori dissolved the Shūgiin: Immediately after the debate, the promulgation of the resolution was read, so no vote could take place.
Theme of the extremely short campaign was in addition to the numerous controversial statements Moris - on the eve of the election, he said, for example, he hoped that many of the undecided voters would not go to the polls - especially the economic situation: While the LDP -led government for infrastructure projects and stimulus programs came to revive the economy, the opposition called for a strengthening of reforms to deregulation and liberalization.
In February, a reduction of the eleven blocks of proportional representation by a total of 20 to 180 seats had been decided. The turnout was 62.49 % for the direct election and 62.45% in the proportional representation and recovered slightly from its record low four years earlier.
Effects
The governing coalition of the LDP, Kōmeitō and Conservative Party suffered significant losses, but was able to maintain a majority in Shūgiin. On July 4, Mori was confirmed in a special session of Parliament with 281 votes as Prime Minister. However, his position in the party remained controversial, in April 2004, he was replaced by Jun'ichirô Koizumi as party leader and prime minister.
The Democratic Party, which had been founded after the dissolution of Shinshinto 1998 new, was first confirmed in Shūgiin - election as the second strongest force. The Social Democrats were with the popular party leader Takako Doi after the disastrous election results during their participation in the government again to gain seats, but were again behind the Communists. The Liberal Party of Ichirō Ozawa, who had left the government coalition only in April 2000, also gained votes and saw confirmed her crotch, while the split-off of her Conservative Party, which continued for intergovernmental cooperation, clearly lost.
From the LDP lost the ETO Kamei faction was hardest hit, the back fell from 53 to 42 seats; the Mori faction lost only three seats and even conquered the status as the second strongest faction. The ex - Obuchi faction won, add a seat and now had 57 deputies. In November called Koichi Katō whose faction, the Kōchikai, had also suffered heavy losses in the election, an internal party leadership change; in this " Katō rebellion " Mori could but the party chairmanship (and thus the premiership ) defend. Result was the splitting of the Kōchikai. The mandate wins the Democratic Party was in most respects to conservative and moderate politicians, while former socialists and social democrats lost seats yet.