also: しきゃくせんじゅつ
strategy of fielding candidates to unseat party rivals; assassin tactic
A political strategy in which a party fields its own candidates in an election with the aim of defeating rival members of the same party, often in a primary or intra-party contest. The term is associated with Japanese political maneuvering, particularly within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
See also: 刺客候補
The assassin tactic is a common method in intra-party power struggles.
The party leadership used the assassin tactic to unseat opposing lawmakers.
刺客候補 refers to the candidate fielded as an 'assassin' in this strategy, while 刺客戦術 is the strategy itself.
Standard kanji spelling for this political strategy term.
Rarely used kana form; the reading しきゃく is uncommon.
Compound of 刺客 (assassin) and 戦術 (tactics). The term metaphorically applies the idea of an assassin to political strategy, where a candidate is deployed to 'assassinate' a rival's political career.