Japan's DPJ shows confidence with proportional-representation only candidates

By Richard Smart

TOKYO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- As official campaigning got under way for the Aug. 30 election, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) fielded a record-high 59 candidates for proportional-representation (PR) only seats, while the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) fielded a record-low 37, reflecting the political mood of a country where the current buzzword is "seikenkotae" (a change of government).

In Japan, voters choose both a political party and constituency candidate when they vote. The votes for political parties are then tallied up throughout 11 block districts, and seats are distributed using proportional representation. Meanwhile, local seats are decided using the first-past-the-post system.

In the past, this has meant that often parties will ask their supporters to vote for smaller allies to gain more seats overall through partnerships. For example, in previous elections, the LDP has asked its supporters to vote for its ally New Komeito at a local level and itself at district level. By doing this, the LDP could guarantee that in places where its smaller partner has a stronger support base, it picks up PR votes while helping New Komeito stand a better chance of getting the local seat, thus helping the coalition gain more power in the Diet.

By fielding 59 proportional-representation only candidates, the DPJ is essentially expressing the confidence it has that political change is coming to Japan. In strongholds where the LDP on New Komeito is all but guaranteed to win the local seats, the party is still confident it can pick up a significant number of votes at district level.