All 15 political bases in Osaka were elected
Tokyo and Northern Kanto also produced winners.
Adhering to Japan-first policy and anti-foreigner line
Diplomatic and security pledges are similar to those of the LDP
Constitutional Amendment Forces Re-Secure Constitutional Amendment Proposal Line
The LDP wins 261 seats and wins a single majority ‘save’
Blue light for Prime Minister Kishida’s state management
Ichiro Matsui (松井一郞), president of the Japan Restoration Association (Mayor of Osaka), holds a press conference regarding the results of the House of Representatives elections held on the 31st of last month. Kyodo News
As the right-wing Japan Restoration Association emerged as a typhoon through the general election of the lower house of the House of Representatives on October 31, the power of constitutional reform in Japanese politics is greatly strengthened.
The Yushinhoe won 41 out of a total of 465 seats (289 regional + 176 proportional) in the general election, increasing the number of seats nearly four times from the previous 11 seats. It then moved on to the third party in the House of Representatives.
In the Yushinhoe, all candidates from 15 constituencies in Osaka Prefecture, a political base in the constituency, were elected. Proportional representation also produced elected candidates from the Tokyo, Northern Kanto, Southern Kanto, Kyushu, and Shikoku blocks, including 10 from the Kinki block to which Osaka Prefecture belongs. In 2012, a local political organization with its roots in the Osaka Restoration Society rose to a national political party for the first time in about 10 years.
The Yushinhoe rallied third-prospective votes from non-communal governments and non-existing ruling parties with political and administrative reforms, tax reform, and basic income at the fore, and achieved a massive victory, far exceeding the 21 seats needed to introduce its own bill, which was its original goal. Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui (松井一郞), the representative of the Yushinhoe, said at a press conference after winning the general election, “We continued to talk about the need for structural reform in Japan, and it led to an increase in the number of seats. I will do my best to make it happen,” he said.
The desire for change can also be seen in the fact that the liberal reform party Reiwa Shinsengumi secured three seats, including the popular representative Taro Yamamoto from the previous one.
The Yushinhoe is walking a right-wing populist line of Japan-first and anti-foreigner lines in real politics. In June, Osaka Prefecture Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, a deputy representative and star of the party, also expressed his support for the cancellation of the exhibition of the Girl of Peace statue at the prefectural exhibition facility. In this general election, the Yushinhoe showed a similar stance to the LDP in its diplomatic and security pledges, such as breaking the 1% limit on defense spending on gross domestic product (GDP). In particular, he is the most active in reforming the Constitution, including the revision of Article 9 of the Constitution, which is called the Article of Peace.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun’s survey of candidates for each party ahead of the general election, the percentage in favor of constitutional amendment was 98% in the case of the Yushinhoe, higher than that of the LDP (97%). 72% of the People’s Democratic Party and 52% of the Komeito Party were in favor, 60% of the Constitutional Democratic Party and the majority of the Communist Party opposed.
Through this general election, the so-called constitutional reform forces (Liberal Democratic Party, Gongmyeong Party, Yushinhoe, and People’s Democratic Party) again secured the constitutional amendment proposal line (two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives). Even before the general election, it was analyzed that the number of constitutional reform forces exceeded two-thirds, but this time, the strength of the constitutional amendment force was strengthened qualitatively with the progress of the Yushin Council.
This general election can be summarized as the saving of the LDP, the advance of the Yushinhoe, and the defeat of the Constitutional Democratic Party. The fact that the LDP has secured 261 seats, which is the absolute stability of all the 17 standing chairpersons of the House of Representatives and a majority in each standing committee, is expected to increase momentum in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s management of state affairs in the future.
On the other hand, the five opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party, the Japanese Communist Party, Reiwa Shinsengumi, and the Social Democratic Party, did not exert their power as the total number of seats decreased (131 → 110 seats). In 77% of constituencies, the competitiveness of the five-party candidates was unified, but in proportional representation, the percentage of votes decreased.
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