Japan's ruling LDP certain to win lower house majority: exit polls

Japan's ruling camp wins two-thirds majority in lower house (Mainichi Japan) TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party won more than a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives in Sunday's election, scoring a historic landslide victory that will give Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a major boost in pushing ahead with her conservative policy agenda. The sharp gain in seats, from 198 before the election to 315, was apparently made possible by Takaichi's personal popularity, setting the stage for her to stay on as premier after taking office last October. The LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, gained a huge presence in the 465-member chamber with 351 seats. The election, meanwhile, dealt a debilitating blow to the newly launched major opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, prompting its co-leaders Yoshihiko Noda and Tetsuo Saito to suggest they could resign, after the outcome saw its seats plunge from 167 to 49. At a press conference on Monday morning, Noda, a former prime minister under the government led by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, said the result was "an extremely bitter blow." Saito suggested having a new leader in place ahead of a special parliamentary session expected on Feb. 18, so the party can nominate when parliament chooses the prime minister. Noda said he needs to put in place a badly needed organizational structure for the hastily launched party before he quits as leader, saying, "I cannot simply take the irresponsible stance of saying 'I'm quitting today.'" The two are expected to hold further discussions at a meeting of the party board later in the day. Crossing the two-thirds majority line of 310 seats in the lower house means the LDP, the first party to achieve the feat in postwar Japan, can move toward amending the Constitution and enact bills even if they are rejected by the House of Councillors, where the ruling coalition remains in a minority. Amid prolonged inflation and a growingly severe international environment, Takaichi has promised to pursue a "responsible yet aggressive" fiscal policy and boost the nation's defense capabilities. "We bear an extremely heavy responsibility to focus on steadily delivering on the campaign pledges we have made," Takaichi said during a TV program Sunday after the LDP's victory was reported. She also signaled, on a separate program, that she will maintain the status quo without making major change to the lineup of the Cabinet, which has received relatively strong public support since its inauguration less than four months ago. Still, she said she hopes that the JIP, which decided not to take ministerial posts when forming the coalition in October in apparent reflection of a cautious stance toward the LDP, will fulfill "its responsibility together in the Cabinet." The JIP, also known as Nippon Ishin, lacked momentum compared with its senior ally, although it managed to add two seats to its preelection strength of 34 seats in the lower house. The LDP and the JIP did not coordinate their candidates in the election. "It was an election in which we felt pressure from the LDP," JIP leader Hirofumi Yoshimura told a press conference in his party's home prefecture of Osaka in western Japan, adding that it had tried to convince voters that it had an important role to play in the coalition in the campaign. The Sanseito party, a populist group known for its "Japanese First" slogan, won 15 seats, compared with two before the election, while Team Mirai, which advocates adoption of digital technologies to enhance political participation, secured its first seats in the lower house with 11. Voter turnout stood at 56.26 percent in the constituencies and 56.25 percent in the proportional representation section, against 53.85 percent and 53.84 percent, respectively, in the previous election, the internal affairs ministry said. Nearly 1,300 candidates vied for the 465 seats, with 289 elected from single-seat constituencies and 176 through proportional representation, where seats are allocated for parties based on votes received in 11 regional blocks across Japan. Early voting received a boost as a record 27.02 million people cast their ballots in the days prior to Sunday, up around 6 million from the lower house election in 2024. As ordinary households have been struggling to cope with the rising cost of living, major political parties have pledged to reduce tax burdens on the campaign trail. Takaichi said during her TV appearances that her government will speed up discussions on the plan for a two-year suspension of the 8 percent consumption tax on food, one of her party's campaign pledges. Under Takaichi, a security hawk, the ruling parties also sought support for their aim to beef up the country's defenses in the face of an increasingly severe security environment. The last-minute launch of the Centrist Reform Alliance that united lower house members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party apparently backfired after facing criticism that their merger was for electoral gain. Komeito, backed by Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai, had been an ally of the LDP for 26 years and a key source of campaign support for their coalition before they split in October.

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Source: The Mainichi

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