Japanese Government Re-election Certain

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29367, 21 November 1960, Page 15

Japanese Government Re-election Certain

(Rec. 11 p.m.) TOKYO, November 20. The governing Liberal-Democratic Party seemed certain to be re-elected as early returns in the Japanese General Election came in tonight. About 75 per cent, of the electorate voted.

Some observers believed the Prime Minister, Mr Ikeda, would receive an even bigger majority in the election. The Opposition Socialist Party did not even put up enough candidates to secure a majority.

Pre-election tests of public opinion gave little chance to the socialists with their policy of denunciation of Japan’s treaty with the United States, and their advocacy of neutralism. The dissolution of the House of Representatives came after a fourmonth cooling-off period after political disturbances last June.

The former Prime Minister, Mr Nobusuke Kishi, resigned after security ratification of the revised treaty with the United States. As his successor Mr Ikeda has carried out a promise to let the people show their preferences by an open vote.

The trend in the last two years in provincial and local elections has gone against the socialists and this trend has been specially evident after outbreaks of violence and street demonstrations led by them. The total popular vote may be a more significant measure of opinion in Japan than the number of party members returned. Japan’s electoral system can return a large number of candidates with a comparatively small total of votes. The country has multiple member constituencies with two, three or four members returned from each.

This means that a popular political figure can win his seat with 60.000 votes or more while some less-significant candidate can also be returned with only 10,000 votes or fewer and have an equal status as a member of the Diet.