Latest images
"5 years after the reelection of Tadagutsu Jobei, It is once again time for the general election in Okaiken. 480 seats are up for grabs in the House of Commoners."
OKAIKEN GENERAL ELECTION, 2013
The House of Commoners has 480 members, elected for a five-year term, 300 members in single-seat constituencies and 180 members by proportional representation in 11 block districts. In this system, each voter votes twice, once for a candidate in the local constituency, and once for a party, each of which has a list of candidates for each block district. The local constituencies are decided by plurality, and the block seats are then handed out to party lists proportionally (by the D'Hondt method) to their share of the vote. Often the parties assign the block list spots to single-seat candidates, so that unsuccessful single-seat candidates have a chance to be elected in the proportional block. Parties may also place dual district and block candidates on the same list rank; in that case, the Sekihairitsu system determines the order of candidates. General elections of members of the House of Commoners (Shūgiin giin sō-senkyo) are usually held before the end of a five-year term as the chamber may be dissolved by the cabinet (via the Emperor). Most prime ministers use that option.
PARTIES
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
Jimintō – 自民党
LEADER: TOSHIRO KUROSAWA (28) - MIYAGI 3RD
The Liberal Democratic Party is in power of the Diet since 1992. As their principles, the policies reflect their desire to preserve their own traditions and culture, including the monarchical system. While pursuing policies of free-trade/market competition, the ideology of cooperation is respected as well. However, the LDP has not espoused a well-defined, unified ideology or political philosophy, due to its long term regimes. Its members hold a variety of positions that could be broadly defined as being to the right of the opposition parties. The LDP traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals: rapid, export-based economic growth; close cooperation with Shayden and Acadia in foreign and defense policies; and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. Administrative reform encompassed several themes: simplification and streamlining of government bureaucracy; privatization of state-owned enterprises; and adoption of measures, including tax reform, in preparation for the expected strain on the economy posed by an aging society. Other priorities in the early 1990s included the promotion of a more active and positive role for Okaiken in the rapidly developing EAS region, the internationalization of Okaiken's economy by the liberalization and promotion of domestic demand and the promotion of scientific research. A business-inspired commitment to free enterprise was tempered by the insistence of important small business and agricultural constituencies on some form of protectionism and subsidies.
Jimintō – 自民党
LEADER: TOSHIRO KUROSAWA (28) - MIYAGI 3RD
The Liberal Democratic Party is in power of the Diet since 1992. As their principles, the policies reflect their desire to preserve their own traditions and culture, including the monarchical system. While pursuing policies of free-trade/market competition, the ideology of cooperation is respected as well. However, the LDP has not espoused a well-defined, unified ideology or political philosophy, due to its long term regimes. Its members hold a variety of positions that could be broadly defined as being to the right of the opposition parties. The LDP traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals: rapid, export-based economic growth; close cooperation with Shayden and Acadia in foreign and defense policies; and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. Administrative reform encompassed several themes: simplification and streamlining of government bureaucracy; privatization of state-owned enterprises; and adoption of measures, including tax reform, in preparation for the expected strain on the economy posed by an aging society. Other priorities in the early 1990s included the promotion of a more active and positive role for Okaiken in the rapidly developing EAS region, the internationalization of Okaiken's economy by the liberalization and promotion of domestic demand and the promotion of scientific research. A business-inspired commitment to free enterprise was tempered by the insistence of important small business and agricultural constituencies on some form of protectionism and subsidies.
The Democratic Party of Okaiken (DP-O)
Minshutō – 民主党
LEADER: RYOMA SAKAI (48) - SAKURI 2ND
The DP-O is considered as the Liberal Whig of the Sanese Diet. The Democratic Party claim themselves to be revolutionary in that they are against the status quo and the current governing establishment. The Democratic Party argue that the bureaucracy and the size of the Sanese government is too large, inefficient, and saturated with cronies and that the Sanese state is too conservative and stiff. The Democratic Party wants to "overthrow the ancient régime locked in old thinking and vested interests, solve the problems at hand, and create a new, flexible, affluent society which values people's individuality and vitality." The DP-O's policy platforms include the restructuring of civil service, monthly allowance to a family with children (E2,000 per child), cut in gas tax, income support for farmers, free tuition for public high schools, banning of temporary work in manufacturing, raising the minimum-wage to E16 and halting of increase in sales tax for the next four years.
Minshutō – 民主党
LEADER: RYOMA SAKAI (48) - SAKURI 2ND
The DP-O is considered as the Liberal Whig of the Sanese Diet. The Democratic Party claim themselves to be revolutionary in that they are against the status quo and the current governing establishment. The Democratic Party argue that the bureaucracy and the size of the Sanese government is too large, inefficient, and saturated with cronies and that the Sanese state is too conservative and stiff. The Democratic Party wants to "overthrow the ancient régime locked in old thinking and vested interests, solve the problems at hand, and create a new, flexible, affluent society which values people's individuality and vitality." The DP-O's policy platforms include the restructuring of civil service, monthly allowance to a family with children (E2,000 per child), cut in gas tax, income support for farmers, free tuition for public high schools, banning of temporary work in manufacturing, raising the minimum-wage to E16 and halting of increase in sales tax for the next four years.
Your Party (YP)
Minna no Tō – みんなの党
LEADER: ICHIRO NODA (51) - SETTSU
Your Party was established by Ichiro Noda, a former LDP MP from Settsu in 2012. The concept behind the party is to make the government more democratic, and to eliminate control of the government by non-elected members established in the bureaucracy while also view toward lower taxation, free enterprise, smaller government, and less regulation.
Minna no Tō – みんなの党
LEADER: ICHIRO NODA (51) - SETTSU
Your Party was established by Ichiro Noda, a former LDP MP from Settsu in 2012. The concept behind the party is to make the government more democratic, and to eliminate control of the government by non-elected members established in the bureaucracy while also view toward lower taxation, free enterprise, smaller government, and less regulation.
New Komeito Party (NKP)
Kōmeitō – 公明党
LEADER: SOKA IWAMATSU (35) - KUJIRA 3RD
NKP's declared mission is to pioneer "people-centered politics, a politics based on a humanitarianism that treats human life with the utmost respect and care". Domestically, the party proposals include reduction of the central government and bureaucracy, increased transparency in public affairs, and increased local (prefectural) autonomy with the private sector playing an increased role. With regard to foreign policy, the NKP wishes to eliminate nuclear arms and armed conflict in general. In so doing, it hopes to bring about the "dawn of a new civilization of mankind". The NKP platform scarcely remarks on religious issues.
Kōmeitō – 公明党
LEADER: SOKA IWAMATSU (35) - KUJIRA 3RD
NKP's declared mission is to pioneer "people-centered politics, a politics based on a humanitarianism that treats human life with the utmost respect and care". Domestically, the party proposals include reduction of the central government and bureaucracy, increased transparency in public affairs, and increased local (prefectural) autonomy with the private sector playing an increased role. With regard to foreign policy, the NKP wishes to eliminate nuclear arms and armed conflict in general. In so doing, it hopes to bring about the "dawn of a new civilization of mankind". The NKP platform scarcely remarks on religious issues.
Communist Party of Okaiken (CP-O)
Kyōsantō-Commie – 共産党-Commie
LEADER: ATSUKO MAEDA (38) - WAKAYAMA 4TH
Atsuko Maeda is the only female leader of a party in this election. The party distances itself from the other Socialist Blocs like Peilan. Regarding its policies, one of the CP-O's main objectives is terminating the Okaiken-Shayden military alliance and the dismantling of all Shayden military bases in Okaiken. It wants to make Okaiken a non-aligned and neutral country, in accordance with its principles of self-determination and national sovereignty. With regards to Okaiken's own military forces, the CP-O's current policy is that it is not principally opposed to its existence (in 2000, it decided that it will agree to its use should Okaiken ever get attacked), but that it will seek to abolish it in the long term, international situation permitting. The CP-O also opposes possession of nuclear weapons by any country or the concept of military blocs, and opposes any attempt to revise Article 9 of the Constitution of Okaiken, which says that "never again …... [Okaiken] be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government". Regarding the resolution of disputes, it argues that priority must be given to peaceful means through negotiations, not to military solutions. The CP-O adheres to the idea that Japan as a West Althenian country must stop putting emphasis on diplomacy centering on relations with the Shayden and the Euphemian Bloc, and put EAS diplomacy at the center of its foreign relations. It supports Okaiken's establishing an "independent foreign policy in the interests of the Sanese people," and rejects "uncritically following any foreign power".
Kyōsantō-Commie – 共産党-Commie
LEADER: ATSUKO MAEDA (38) - WAKAYAMA 4TH
Atsuko Maeda is the only female leader of a party in this election. The party distances itself from the other Socialist Blocs like Peilan. Regarding its policies, one of the CP-O's main objectives is terminating the Okaiken-Shayden military alliance and the dismantling of all Shayden military bases in Okaiken. It wants to make Okaiken a non-aligned and neutral country, in accordance with its principles of self-determination and national sovereignty. With regards to Okaiken's own military forces, the CP-O's current policy is that it is not principally opposed to its existence (in 2000, it decided that it will agree to its use should Okaiken ever get attacked), but that it will seek to abolish it in the long term, international situation permitting. The CP-O also opposes possession of nuclear weapons by any country or the concept of military blocs, and opposes any attempt to revise Article 9 of the Constitution of Okaiken, which says that "never again …... [Okaiken] be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government". Regarding the resolution of disputes, it argues that priority must be given to peaceful means through negotiations, not to military solutions. The CP-O adheres to the idea that Japan as a West Althenian country must stop putting emphasis on diplomacy centering on relations with the Shayden and the Euphemian Bloc, and put EAS diplomacy at the center of its foreign relations. It supports Okaiken's establishing an "independent foreign policy in the interests of the Sanese people," and rejects "uncritically following any foreign power".
POLITICAL LANDSCAPE AS OF 2013
