Japanese general election, 1996

Japanese general election, 1996

1993 ← 20 October 1996 → 2000

All 500 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan 251 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Ryutaro Hashimoto Ichirō Ozawa Party Liberal Democratic New Frontiers Leader's seat Okayama-2nd Iwate-4th Last election 223 seats, 36.62% 55 seats, 10.10% Seats won 239 156 Seat change +28 -4 Popular vote 21,836,091 15,812,320 Percentage 38.63% 27.97%

Prime Minister before election Ryutaro Hashimoto Liberal Democratic Prime Minister-designate Ryutaro Hashimoto Liberal Democratic

A general election took place in Japan on October 20, 1996. Incumbent Prime Minister Hashimoto Ryutaro of the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Party Sakigake and the Social Democratic Party won the election.

Results

The coalition government won a narrow majority in the election. The Social Democratic Party and the New Party Sakigake lost most of its seats in the House of Representatives due to the formation of coalition with the LDP. The turnout of the election was 59.65%.

 Summary of the 18 July 1996 Japanese House of Representatives election results

Alliances and parties		Local constituency vote			PR block vote			Total seats	+/−
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)	21,836,096	38.63%	169	18,205,955	32.76%	70	239	28
	Social Democratic Party (SDP)	1,240,649	2.19%	4	3,547,240	6.38%	11	15	15
	New Party Harbinger (NPH)	727,644	1.29%	2	582,093	1.05%	0	2	7
	Ruling coalition	23,804,389	42.11%	175	22,335,288	40.19%	81	256	6
	New Frontier Party (NFP)	15,812,326	27.97%	96	15,580,053	28.04%	60	156	4
	Democratic Party (DPJ)	6,001,666	10.62%	17	8,949,190	16.10%	35	52	0
	Japan Communist Party (JCP)	7,096,766	12.55%	2	7,268,743	13.08%	24	26	11
	Democratic Reform League	149,357	0.26%	1	18,884	0.03%	0	1	1
	Others	1,155,108	2.04%	0	1,417,077	2.55%	0	0	4
	Opposition parties	30,215,223	53.45%	116	33,233,907	59.81%	119	235	2
	Independents	2,508,810	4.44%	9	–			9	1
Totals		56,528,422	100.00%	300	55,569,195	100.00%	200	500	7 (electoral reform: -11 18 vacant seats)
Turnout		59.65%			59.62%			–

Party	Single-member constituencies	Proportional representation	Total
Liberal Democrat	169	70	239 (211)
New Frontiers	96	60	156 (160)
Democrat	17	35	52
Japanese Communist	2	24	26 (15)
Social Democrat	4	11	15 (30)
New Party Sakigake	2	0	2 (9)
Democratic Reformers	1	0	1 (2)
Independent	9	0	9 (10)

Numbers in parentheses indicate seats held before the election.