刺し客かく候こう補ほ

also: しきゃくこうほ

Meanings

assassin candidate; candidate fielded to oust a same-party incumbent

A political term for a candidate put forward by a party specifically to defeat an incumbent from the same party, often in a primary or intra-party contest. The word carries a strong metaphorical sense of 'assassin' targeting a political rival.

次つぎの選せん挙きょで、党とうは現げん職しょくを倒たおすために刺し客かく候こう補ほを立たてた。
In the next election, the party fielded an assassin candidate to defeat the incumbent.
刺し客かく候こう補ほとして無む所しょ属ぞくで出しゅつ馬ばしたが、結けっ局きょく現げん職しょくに敗やぶれた。
He ran as an independent assassin candidate, but ultimately lost to the incumbent.

Kanji

刺thorn, pierce, stab
客guest, visitor, customer
候climate, season, weather
補supplement, supply, make good

Related words

刺し客かく
刺客 means 'assassin' in a literal sense; 刺客候補 extends this metaphorically to a political candidate tasked with ousting a same-party rival.
候こう補ほ
候補 is a general term for 'candidate'; 刺客候補 specifies a candidate with the particular mission of defeating an incumbent from the same party.

Built from

刺し客かく+候こう補ほ

Written forms

刺客候補
- しかくこうほ
  Standard kanji spelling; the reading しかくこうほ is the primary pronunciation.
- しきゃくこうほ
  rarely-used kana form
  Rarely used kana form of the reading; しかくこうほ is strongly preferred.
しきゃくこうほ
rarely-used kana form

Etymology

Compound of 刺客 (shikaku, 'assassin') and 候補 (kōho, 'candidate'). The term uses the metaphor of an assassin to describe a candidate whose primary purpose is to eliminate a political rival within the same party.