Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has won key local elections in the first big electoral test for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida since damaging revelations emerged about his party’s ties to the Unification Church.
LDP candidates on Sunday triumphed in governor elections in prefectures from Hokkaido in the country’s north to Oita in the southwest, raising speculation that Kishida could call a snap general election.
An election for Japan’s House of Representatives, or lower house, is not due until October 2025, but some pundits believe Kishida could gamble on an early poll to capitalize on his party’s strong showing at the weekend.
Photo: AP
The elections also saw Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) extend its influence outside its home turf of Osaka, as the right-wing populists try to establish themselves as a national political force.
The LDP has endured months of criticism over its connections to the Unification Church — often referred to as the Moonies — that emerged in the wake of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination.
Tetsuya Yamagami, who is accused of shooting Abe while he was making a campaign speech on July 8 last year, has told investigators that he had targeted Abe over his connections to the church, which he blamed for bankrupting his family.
Public support for Kishida’s LDP plummeted as Japanese media uncovered widespread links between the church and party lawmakers and councilors, fueling speculation that the conservative religious group, founded in South Korea in the 1950s, had influenced the LDP’s political agenda.
Kishida had begun to claw back support in the run-up to Sunday’s elections for nine governors, six mayors and dozens of prefectural and municipal assemblies after a surprise trip to Ukraine and a fence-mending summit in Tokyo with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol last month.
The LDP took six of the governor races, won in Hokkaido — where the left-of-centre Constitutional Democratic party of Japan has traditionally been strong — and took more than half of the 2,260 prefectural assembly seats being contested.
Voters in other areas, including Tokyo, go to the polls on Sunday next week, when five parliamentary by-elections are also to be held.
“Voters have recognized our achievements,” LDP Election Strategy Committee chairman Hiroshi Moriyama was quoted by the Nikkei Asia as saying.
The win in Hokkaido was “significant,” he added.
Kishida, whose government plans to double defense spending by 2027, also appeared to have tapped into public concern over China’s military activity in the region and the potential for conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The local elections are also seen as a litmus test for his plans to address Japan’s cost of living crisis and low birthrate.
The LDP fared less well in western Japan, where Hirofumi Yoshimura won a second term as governor of Osaka, while fellow Ishin candidate, Hideyuki Yokoyama, won the city’s election for mayor. An Ishin candidate also won the governor’s race in nearby Nara — the first time it has secured a governorship outside Osaka.
Yoshimura’s re-election is expected to strengthen his case for Osaka to host Japan’s first casino, the plans for which have yet to receive government approval. His party’s strong showing at the weekend could also lead to more seats in parliament, where it is already the third-biggest party in the lower house.
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