Search - proportional-representation

 
 
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2017

Lower House electoral system needs an overhaul

Only comprehensive reform can resolve the Lower House electoral system's problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2010

Local politics cries out for partisan competition

OSAKA — With its constant factional infighting and Cabinet shuffles, Japanese national politics is a disheartening affair for the concerned voter. Last year's historic elections, however, demonstrated that voters can oust unpopular governments, and that party competition and accountability is emerging...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 1999

Parties agree to tackle redenomination of yen

As part of their policy arrangements for launching a new coalition government, the Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party and New Komeito on Thursday agreed to consider redenominating the yen, beginning early in the 21st century.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2018

Eliminate disparity in the value of votes

Last week's Supreme Court decision that the 2017 Lower House election was constitutional should not slow efforts to reduce the nearly 2-to-1 disparity in the value of votes.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2016

Get more serious on electoral reform

Electoral reform should focus on a fundamental solution to the disparity in the value of votes.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2013

A makeshift reapportionment plan

A Lower House panel recommends a makeshift measure to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to rectify vote-value disparities among single-seat districts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2021

Why politicians make the switch from Upper to Lower House

One almost never hears about a Lower House member trying to move to the Upper House, but movement the opposite direction has plenty of precedent.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2019

Will the Thai elections be free and fair?

And if they aren't, what should liberal and democratic political parties in Thailand do?
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2014

Low voter turnout mars Abe's claim of election triumph

The Liberal Democratic Party won 43.12 million votes in Sunday's snap poll, nearly 3 million fewer than in the 2009 election, which it lost.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2013

Hashimoto in limbo after trouncing

The future of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto remained unclear Sunday evening following the party's poor performance in the Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 27, 2013

LDP undaunted by vote-value rulings

Despite a spate of high court rulings that last year's general election was unconstitutional and even invalid due to large vote disparities, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party doesn't think it is necessary to hold another Lower House campaign as long as it works on election reform, Secretary General...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2013

Vote-value disparity issue puts cloud over Abe's ambitions

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet enjoying astronomically high approval ratings compared with recent leaders, the prospects of his Liberal Democratic Party winning a critical Upper House election this summer look bright.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2012

Latest DPJ defectors to join Nagoya force

Two more Diet members bolted Friday from the Democratic Party of Japan and announced they were joining Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura's local Genzei Nippon (Tax Reduction Japan) group with the aim of taking it national and vying for seats in the next Lower House election.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 9, 2005

Roll up! Roll up! For a freak show starring 'Koizumi's children'

Adding salt to its wounds, it was reported recently that the Democratic Party of Japan paid 129 million yen to the American public relations firm Fleischmann-Hillard to buff its image in 2004. Though it might have helped in last year's Upper House election, the company's strategy didn't seem to work...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2002

Koizumi's trade plan hailed by Megawati

Compiled from wire reports JAKARTA -- Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Saturday embraced Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's vision of cooperation linking Northeast and Southeast Asian countries.
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2000

Japan's voters call for change

Voters apparently called for a change in the nation's politics in Sunday's elections for the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party of Japan consolidated its position as the No. 1 opposition party by winning an additional 35 seats, although it failed to win enough votes to allow it to establish...
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2023

Japanese political parties boosting support for female candidates

The parties hope to win the support of independent voters by demonstrating their commitment to increasing the number of female lawmakers.
October's by-elections will be the first national elections since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his Cabinet last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2023

October by-elections to be first test for Kishida's new government

The results of the by-elections are expected to influence Kishida's strategy for dissolving the Lower House for a general election.
New Zealand's National Party leader Christopher Luxon addresses his supporters in Auckland after winning the general election on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 15, 2023

New Zealand elects its most conservative government in decades

Former Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon's center-right National Party will lead a coalition with a smaller libertarian party.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2023

Parliamentary Vice Minister Taro Yamada steps down over affair

The first Cabinet resignation since a mid-September reshuffle deals a blow to Kishida at a time when public support rates have plummeted.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 29, 2023

LDP lawmaker's local office raided over funds scandal

The special squad of the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office raided lawmaker Yasutada Ono's local office in the city of Hashima, Gifu Prefecture.
Factions, cliques, caucuses — whatever they may be called, groupings in legislatures are not unusual in many countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Mar 2, 2024

Is the funding scandal unraveling the LDP?

The media is caught up in the money-politics scandal of the moment, framing factions as all good or all bad. Things are a lot more nuanced than that.
Shun Otokita is the rarest of Nippon Ishin lawmakers: He was born and bred in Tokyo, where he got his start as a local politician.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2024

Can Nippon Ishin no Kai make inroads in Tokyo?

The Kansai-based party is aiming to broaden its support across Japan — starting with Tokyo's No. 15 district election next month.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol casts his ballot during early voting in parliamentary elections at a polling station in Busan, South Korea, on Friday, ahead of Election Day on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2024

South Korean parliamentary elections a political litmus test for Yoon

Wednesday's elections could have lasting implications for the final three years of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s single five-year term.
People vote at a polling station during the 22nd parliamentary election in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

Four key figures to watch ahead of South Korea's general election

Political fates will be shaped Wednesday as the South Korean electorate votes to pick 300 members of parliament.
South Korea's ruling People Power Party's leader Han Dong-hoon (R) speaks during a press conference on the parliamentary election at the party's headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. Han resigned after his party was trounced by the opposition in parliamentary elections, leaving President Yoon Suk Yeol a lame duck for the remainder of his term.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Election rout makes Yoon's 'lame duck' fears reality

"I apologize to the people for failing to be chosen"
Results of three by-elections on April 28 will likely influence the fate of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 14, 2024

Three Japan by-elections set to start amid fund scandal

The official campaign period is set to start Tuesday for the April 28 by-elections for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet.

Longform

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