Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s conservative ruling party braced for a blow to its comfortable majority in the lower house of the Japanese parliament in elections yesterday as a result of public rage over financial scandals and discontent over a stagnant economy.
According to exit polls by NHK, Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is certain to lose its majority in the 465-seat house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.
It is still unclear if his ruling coalition with the junior partner Komeito can retain a majority.
Photo: AFP
The results could weaken Ishiba’s grip on power and if he cannot get his party’s policies through parliament, he might need to find a third partner.
Ishiba took office on Oct. 1, replacing Fumio Kishida, who resigned after failing to pacify the public over widespread slush fund practices among LDP lawmakers. Ishiba immediately ordered a snap general election in hopes of shoring up support by using his outspoken, reformist image.
A total of 1,344 candidates, including a record 314 women, are running for office.
Ishiba has set a goal of retaining a majority of 233 seats for the ruling coalition between the LDP and its Buddhist-backed Komeito.
NHK exit polls indicated that the LDP alone was expected to win 153 to 219 seats, down sharply from 247, a comfortable single majority it held previously. Komeito was expected to win 21 to 35 seats.
Ishiba, in his final speech on Saturday in Tokyo, apologized for his party’s mishandling of funds and pledged “to restart as an equal, fair, humble and honest party.”
He said only the LDP’s ruling coalition can responsibly run Japan with its experience and dependable policies.
Once a popular politician known for criticism of even his own party’s policies, Ishiba has also seen support for his weeks-old Cabinet plunge.
The biggest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is led by centrist leader Yoshihiko Noda who briefly served as prime minister during the LDP’s 2009 to 2012 descent from power.
Noda’s party is expected to make significant gains, with exit polls suggesting a huge increase to as many as 191 seats from 98.
Noda said the election is a rare chance for a change of government, which would be the most effective political reform, although his party has trouble finding other opposition groups with which to cooperate.
Ishiba’s LDP is expected to remain the top party in the parliament as voters are skeptical about the opposition’s ability and inexperience, analysts said.
“The public’s criticisms against the slush funds scandal has intensified, and it won’t go away easily,” said Izuru Makihara, a University of Tokyo professor of politics and public policy. “There is a growing sense of fairness and people are rejecting privileges for politicians.”
Ishiba needs bold political reform measures to regain public trust, he added.
Ishiba pledged to revitalize the rural economy, address Japan’s falling birth rate and bolster defense, but his Cabinet has old faces, only two women and was seen as alienating members of the scandal-tainted faction led by former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
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