Japan is set to hold a general election this weekend that looks likely to return Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to power and might even give him the momentum to press ahead with badly needed structural changes.
Billed as a referendum on “Abenomics” — Abe’s signature plan to revive the economy — observers expect he will barely break a sweat in an easy victory.
Opinion polls predict the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito will sweep tomorrow’s ballot, all but unhindered by an unprepared and underwhelming opposition.
“Abe’s expected victory is the result of the self-destruction of the opposition,” Meiji University politics professor Shinichi Nishikawa said. “For many voters, there is no alternative but the LDP.”
“This is an election with no wind as non-partisan voters can’t find where to go,” said Koji Nakakita, a politics professor at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. “It’s going to be a victory for the LDP without enthusiasm.”
A poll published by the Asahi Shimbun on Thursday showed the coalition would secure 317 of the 475 seats, giving it the majority it needs in the powerful lower house to force through legislation.
The Democratic Party of Japan, whose haphazard governance over the three years until 2012 left voters cold, could add a couple of dozen more seats to its tally of 62, but would remain ineffective, the opinion poll showed.
Sixty-year-old Abe still had more than two years left on the clock when he called the vote last month.
A new mandate from the electorate would give Abe a straight four-year run at some of the more difficult reforms.
However, if voters hand him too much of a majority, Abe might take his eye off the economic ball and press his less-popular projects, said James Schoff of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The best outcome would be a “Goldilocks victory by the LDP,” said Schoff, referring to a parliamentary majority that was not too big and not too small.
That kind of win would buy him “some extra time to move forward on the tougher economic forums that will be talked about, to be able to make a deal on [the Trans-Pacific Partnership], to go toe-to-toe with the farm lobby and maybe allow some multinational or big Japanese corporations to invest in agricultural production,” Schoff said.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old