According to voter survey: Japan’s government will probably retain a majority

Japan has elected new House of Lords amid shock over the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Abe. Abe’s governing party, the LDP, will probably retain the majority with his coalition partner. The victory could even be clearer than expected.

A victory for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government camp is emerging in the upper house elections in Japan. As expected, his Liberal Democratic Party LDP and its junior partner Komeito are likely to secure their previous majority in the second chamber of parliament, the media reported based on voter surveys after the polling stations closed.

Together, the two parties are expected to win 69 to 83 of the 125 seats available for election, as reported by broadcaster NHK. The LDP alone increased its share from 55 to 59 to 69 seats in the future. Meanwhile, the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, feared losses.

The coalition partners already have 70 of the mandates in the upper house that were not up for election this time. Half of the mandates are renewed every three years. The upper house will have 248 seats.

Election after deadly assassination

The election came in the wake of the assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The longtime head of government and influential politician belonged to the LDP, like his pupil Kishida. He had been shot down in the street two days earlier during an election campaign speech and later pronounced dead in the hospital.

Strengthen Kishida’s position of power

The tragic death of Abe has now apparently meant that his party received even more votes than had been expected anyway. The advantage is so large that a constitutional change seems possible, which Abe had also advocated: the abolition of the so-called peace clause, which forbids Japan to take part in wars.

A victory would also pave the way for the government coalition to implement projects such as increasing the defense budget and restarting some nuclear power plants.

The expected election victory should strengthen Kishida’s position of power, who has only been in office for nine months, at a time when Japan’s economic recovery from the corona pandemic is threatened by rising energy and food prices. In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s drive for power, his LDP party also wants a sharp increase in military spending.

Baerbock and Blinken in Tokyo

The official election result is expected tomorrow. There is also a wake for Abe at the start of the week and the next day there is a burial in the circle of close relatives. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is coming to Tokyo tomorrow to offer his condolences to the country.

On election day, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also traveled to Japan and visited Nagasaki. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city in August 1945. “Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki is a memorial for us today that we all have to work together towards a world without nuclear weapons – even if it will be a long, hard road,” Baerbock said on Twitter. Tomorrow, Baerbock plans to hold talks in Tokyo on Japanese-German cooperation on Indo-Pacific politics.

With information from Silke Diettrich, ARD Studio New Delhi