Was the Coalition Government Supported?

     The election of the House of Representatives finished on November 9, 2003. Prime Minister
Koizumi concluded that the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komeito (the Clean Government Party)
and the New Conservative Party that have organized the coalition government party got an absolute
majority by winning 275 seats. Consequently, he confirmed that he would continue to keep the
coalition government in the future.
     The New Conservative Party, however, decreased their representation in the House from nine
to four at the last general election; besides, Hiroshi Kumagaya, Representative of the New Conservative
Party, was defeated and lost his seat in the House. This shows that electors did not evaluate the role of
the New Conservative Party in the coalition government. What was worse, it was announced on
November 10 that the New Conservative Party broke up and joined the Liberal Democratic Party
following Koizumi�fs proposal. If the New Conservative Party had escaped from the coalition government
before the general election, it would be doubtful that the coalition government could have gotten an
absolute majority. What is clear now is that the New Conservative Party that played a part in the coalition
government was not supported at all by voters in the last general election.
     After all, it was the Komeito that brought an absolute majority to the coalition government. About
sixty percent of supporters of the Komeito voted for the Liberal Democratic Party. Thanks to their
support, the Liberal Democratic Party could have won 237 seats in the House. However, the contents
supporting the Komeito should be analyzed carefully. The Komeito has a connection with �gSoka Gakkai,�h
which is a religious organization. Almost all the members of Soka Gakkai have supported the Komeito,
and they also support the Liberal Democratic Party according to instructions from Soka Gakkai. The
Komeito still seems to have unsolved problems with the principal of separation of government and religion.
It is unusual for general electors to vote for the Komeito. Although the Liberal Democratic Party gathered
only 237 votes, the coalition government managed to reach 275 votes by taking advantage of the
Komeito�fs ability to gather votes.
     Japanese people seem not to have self-awareness in which he or she supported the present coalition
government. In fact, the number of votes obtained by the party was less than half of the members of the
House of Representatives. The New Conservative Party had a hard breakup. The Komeito was the sole
winner of the election. If the voting rate were a little higher, the result of the election would have changed
a lot. Prime Minister Koizumi should think over this fact carefully and endeavor to manage the coalition
government of two parties without being arrogant.

Copyright (C) 2003 by Edmond N. Beard