NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

<i>Dialogue:</i> NZ should be content with Japanese election result

30 Jun, 2000 03:24 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

By STEPHEN LEVINE

Japan's voters have delivered a mixed verdict on the country's coalition Government. The Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's largest, had a majority in the previous Parliament; now it has only 233 of 480 seats.

The three coalition parties together won 271 seats, a comfortable majority yet far short of the
335 (of 500 seats) they used to hold.

The re-election of Japan's right-of-centre Government gives New Zealand policy-makers continued stability in an important part of the Asia-Pacific region. But the failure of the coalition to achieve a clear mandate from the electorate is also a positive result, not only for New Zealand but also for the future of Japan.

The election was called by the Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, but it was his conduct since taking office which became the main issue of the 12-day campaign. Mori became Prime Minister on April 5, three days after his predecessor, Keizo Obuchi, fell into a coma after suffering a stroke. Mr Obuchi died six weeks later.

Mr Mori's arrival in office was not greeted with any conspicuous jubilation. His Government was given only a 34 per cent approval rating at the outset and by election day this had plummeted. Two days before the ballot, a poll had the cabinet's approval rating down to an astonishing 12.5 per cent.

Mr Mori has had a difficult time from the beginning. He was chosen to succeed Mr Obuchi in disputed, even suspicious, circumstances at a meeting he attended with four other leaders of the Liberal Democrats. Only one of them was a member of the cabinet.

Having taken office, Mr Mori had only to abide by the ancient prescription laid down for doctors: first, do no harm. All that was required of him was a modicum of dignity and reticence, virtues highly prized in Japan and appropriate to the circumstances.

It is difficult to feel much sympathy for Mr Mori. No one forced him to speak carelessly, leading Japanese listeners to believe that he was calling for a return to a prewar Japan focused on the Emperor. It was his idea, alone, presumably, to describe the country as a land of gods, a divine nation centring on the Emperor, and to use concepts and language long consigned to the history books.

Although the Japanese have many polite forms of apology that are used in daily discourse, Mr Mori managed to express his regrets for "misunderstandings" without retracting anything he said. The calling of the election, months earlier than required, was an attempt by an embattled Government to secure some kind of mandate for itself.

It came after the Government defeated an Opposition motion of censure over Mr Mori's remarks and right before a vote of no-confidence was to have been taken.

Japan has many problems, but this election was not fought on issues or policy differences. The main theme for the Opposition was the Prime Minister's unfitness for office. In a way it was a very American election. As with President Clinton, the issue was character. Did the Prime Minister display good judgment? Was he committed to the democratic values enshrined in the Japanese constitution?

In the end, the Government was saved by the electoral system. Japan, like New Zealand, changed its voting system in 1996. This election, too, was only the second to be held under the new system. As in New Zealand, voters have two ballots - one for a constituency candidate, the other for a political party. There is, however, a crucial difference between the two systems: in Japan, the proportional representation only applies to the 180 party-list seats.

Thus the Liberal Democrats were able to hold on to power, despite strong public and media reaction against Mr Mori's remarks, because they won 177 of the 300 electorates. This was first-past-the-post politics as we used to know it: the Liberal Democrats won 41 per cent of the electorate candidate votes but captured 59 per cent of the electorate seats.

As for the party-list vote - which receives much less attention in Japan - the Liberal Democrats won only 28 per cent, a mere 3 per cent more than the opposition Democratic Party.

Under New Zealand's MMP rules, the three parties making up Japan's coalition Government would have had only about 41 per cent of the seats and there could well have been a historic move to a New Zealand-style centre-left lineup.

Ironically, Mr Mori's wish for a new mandate was nearly achieved in exactly the way he had suggested. On being advised there were many undecided voters, the Prime Minister said he hoped that they would "remain uninterested" and "sleep" on election day. Turnout, although up from 1996, was only 62.5 per cent, partly attributable to the rainy weather - perhaps a gift to the Prime Minister from the country's grateful gods.

* Stephen Levine is associate professor of political science at Victoria University.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

live
New Zealand

Conserve water alert in Tasman as storm conditions continue

11 Jul 07:26 AM
Politics

Peeni Henare likely favourite to stand for Labour in Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

11 Jul 07:20 AM
Property

Watch: 'My raging backyard river' - North Shore homeowner fears stormwater torrent

11 Jul 06:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Conserve water alert in Tasman as storm conditions continue
live

Conserve water alert in Tasman as storm conditions continue

11 Jul 07:26 AM

Electrical storms are set to hit at evening rush as Auckland braces for 16 hours of rain.

Peeni Henare likely favourite to stand for Labour in Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

Peeni Henare likely favourite to stand for Labour in Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

11 Jul 07:20 AM
Watch: 'My raging backyard river' - North Shore homeowner fears stormwater torrent

Watch: 'My raging backyard river' - North Shore homeowner fears stormwater torrent

11 Jul 06:00 AM
Watch: Shore homeowner fears raging backyard river, council says it can’t pipe stormwater

Watch: Shore homeowner fears raging backyard river, council says it can’t pipe stormwater

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP