Saga 1st district
Saga 1st district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It is located in Saga Prefecture and consists of Tosu, parts of Saga and Kanzaki as well as the Miyaki District. As of September 2012, 237,748 eligible voters were registered in the district.[1]
Saga 1st district has been a swing district since its creation in 1996: it alternately elected candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)/its precursor New Frontier Party (NFP). The district is currently represented by Kazuchika Iwata (LDP), a former second-generation Saga prefectural assemblyman. In 2012, Iwata defeated Kazuhiro Haraguchi (DPJ), Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication in the Hatoyama cabinet. Haraguchi had initially won the district narrowly for the NFP in 1996 but lost it in 2000 to Takanori Sakai (LDP) who was appointed as Cabinet Office Vice Minister in the 2nd realigned Mori cabinet. In March 2003, Sakai was arrested (and later sentenced to 32 months in prison) for having received illicit corporate donations in violation of the Political Funds Control Law.[2][3] Takamaro Fukuoka replaced Sakai as LDP candidate for Saga 1 in the 2003 election and lost to Haraguchi. The "postal privatization" election of 2005 gave the LDP a landslide victory, and Fukuoka beat Haraguchi despite the fact that the DPJ's opposition ally, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), unlike in previous elections did not nominate a candidate in Saga 1st district. In the landslide LDP defeat of 2009, Haraguchi won the district for the third time.
Before the 1994 electoral reform, the area had been part of Saga At-large district where five representatives were elected by single non-transferable vote.
List of Representatives
| Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazuhiro Haraguchi | NFP | 1996–2000 | Reelected to a proportional seat in the Kyūshū bloc, joined "Voice of the People" in the NFP dissolution, merged into Minseitō, then DPJ in 1998 | |
| Takanori Sakai | LDP | 2000–2003 | Violation of the Political Funds Control Act, but in office until dissolution | |
| Kazuhiro Haraguchi | DPJ | 2003–2005 | Reelected to a proportional seat in the Kyūshū bloc | |
| Takamaro Fukuoka | LDP | 2005–2009 | Failed reelection to a proportional seat in the Kyūshū bloc; became member of the House of Councillors from Saga in the 2010 election | |
| Kazuhiro Haraguchi | DPJ | 2009–2012 | Reelected to a proportional seat in the Kyūshū bloc | |
| Kazuchika Iwata | LDP | 2012– | Incumbent | |
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDP (NK) | Kazuchika Iwata | 70,547 | 49.2 | ||
| DPJ (PNP) | Kazuhiro Haraguchi (elected by PR) | 63,007 | 43.9 | ||
| JCP | Hitoshi Ōmori | 9,857 | 6.9 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DPJ (SDP, NPP support) | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | 96,618 | |||
| LDP (Kōmeitō support) | Takamaro Fukuoka | 75,475 | |||
| Happiness Realization Party | Ken Koba | 1,568 | |||
| Turnout | 175,824 | 74.77 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDP | Takamaro Fukuoka | 84,643 | |||
| DPJ | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | 75,449 | |||
| JCP | Akemi Mutō | 8,029 | |||
| Turnout | 170,282 | 73.28 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DPJ | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | 70,271 | |||
| LDP | Takamaro Fukuoka | 66,446 | |||
| SDP | Hisahiro Shibata | 8,315 | |||
| JCP | Yasutoshi Kamimura | 4,977 | |||
| Turnout | 152,297 | 66.13 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDP | Takanori Sakai | 70,155 | |||
| DPJ | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | 62,932 | |||
| SDP | Katsuyō Ogata | 30,018 | |||
| JCP | Yasutoshi Kamimura | 7,173 | |||
| Liberal League | Kō Nagai | 1,612 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFP | Kazuhiro Haraguchi | 62,515 | |||
| LDP | Takanori Sakai | 60,286 | |||
| SDP | Katsuyō Ogata | 27,514 | |||
| JCP | Yasutoshi Kamimura | 7,670 | |||
| Liberal League | Takashi Kimura | 2,493 | |||
References
- ^ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC): 平成24年9月2日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数>選挙区ごとの選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数等 Template:Ja
- ^ The Japan Times, June 27, 2003: Sakai, cohort plead not guilty to defrauding state
- ^ The Japan Times, March 23, 2007: Prosecutors drive ex-labor minister to penitentiary
- ^ "総選挙2012>開票結果 小選挙区 佐賀". Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-06-05.
- ^ "衆議院>第45回衆議院議員選挙>佐賀県>佐賀1区". ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|publisher=(help) - ^ "衆議院>第44回衆議院議員選挙>佐賀県>佐賀1区". ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|publisher=(help) - ^ "衆議院 >第43回衆議院議員選挙 >佐賀県>佐賀1区". ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|publisher=(help) - ^ "衆議院>第42回衆議院議員選挙>佐賀県>佐賀1区". ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|publisher=(help) - ^ "衆議院>第41回衆議院議員選挙 >佐賀県>佐賀1区". ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
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