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The Irish general election of 2007 took place on 24 May 2007 after the dissolution of the 29th Dáil by the President on 30 April 2007, at the request of the Taoiseach. The electorate was given the task of choosing the members of the 30th Dáil who met on 14 June 2007 to nominate a Taoiseach and ratify the ministers of the Government of the 30th Dáil. While Fine Gael gained 20 seats, Fianna Fáil remained the largest party. The election was considered a success for Fianna Fáil; however, Fianna Fáil's junior coalition partners in the 29th Dáil, the Progressive Democrats, lost six of their eight seats. On 12 June 2007, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party reached agreement on a draft Programme for Government, this was subsequently ratified by the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party and Green Party members on 13 June 2007. This resulted in the formation of a coalition government on 14 June 2007 between Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats. The government was initially supported by four Independent TDs. ==Election date and system== On 29 April 2007, President Mary McAleese dissolved the 29th Dáil on the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The election date was officially set as 24 May 2007; the 30th Dáil would convene on 14 June 2007 at which stage the Taoiseach would be nominated and the rest of the Government approved for appointment by the President. Official campaigning began as soon as the announcement had been made. Current statute requires that the Dáil be dissolved within five years after its first meeting (6 June 2002) following the previous election and the election must take place not later than thirty days after the dissolution.〔Article 16.5 of the Constitution of Ireland states that the Dáil may sit for a period of up to seven years from its first meeting. It also allows a shorter period to be fixed by law; this is currently fixed at five years.〕 The Taoiseach extended the life of the 29th Dáil close to a full five years. After the 2002 general election he commented that his prior confirmation of this policy had caused problems in the last year of his government. There was speculation in 2005 that he might have moved to dissolve parliament early in order to catch the opposition off guard, although this did not transpire. In 2005, in anticipation of the election date, the parties began candidate selections and from mid-2005 some TDs announced their retirement plans. A statement by Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan in November 2006 suggested that the election would take place in May 2007, as was the case. In December 2006, Bertie Ahern stated unambiguously that the election would take place in summer 2007. There was some controversy over which day of the week the election should have been held on, as some opposition parties insisted that a weekend polling day would have made it easier for those studying or working away from home to vote. Ireland's voter registration process presents difficulties for people who live at a second address for part of the week. Previous elections and referendums have been held on Thursdays, Fridays and (in one case) a Wednesday. For the 2007 election, polling day was a Thursday. The Taoiseach denied that the election was called on Sunday, 29 April 2007 to prevent the Mahon Tribunal recommencing investigations the following day concerning alleged payments to politicians (including Mr. Ahern). Because of the election campaign, the Mahon Tribunal suspended its public hearings on Monday, 30 April 2007 and resumed them four days after the general election on 28 May 2007. The closing time and date for nominations was 12:00 Irish Summer Time on Wednesday, 9 May 2007. Polls were open from 07:30 until 22:30 IST. The system of voting was Proportional Representation with a Single Transferable Vote, also known as PR-STV.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Proportional Representation )〕 The general election took place in 43 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 165 of the 166 Dáil Éireann seats (the ''Ceann Comhairle'' is automatically re-elected).〔Article 16.6 of the constitution requires that "provision shall be made by law" such that the Ceann Comhairle "be deemed without any actual election to be elected a member of Dáil Éireann". The current law making such provision is the Electoral Act, 1992.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Irish general election, 2007」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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