Abe's Ruling Bloc Scores Landslide Victory in Japan Lower House Election

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, scored a landslide victory in the crucial general election on Sunday, helping him to consolidate his grip on power nearly five years after returning to power. In the closely watched election, the LDP and Komeito won at least 311 seats in the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of parliament, clearing the two-thirds majority needed for putting any constitutional revision to a national referendum. Any proposal to revise the post-World War II constitution needs to be approved by at least two-thirds of members in both chambers of parliament before it is put to a national referendum. More than two-thirds of members in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, are in favor of amendment. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, a center-left party set up recently by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano and like-minded liberal defectors from the splintering Democratic Party, gained traction, more than tripling the number of its seats to at least 54. Headed by Edano, the new party emerged as the largest opposition party in the Lower House. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's conservative Party of Hope, which was created soon before the election and also took in DP defectors, is unlikely to maintain its pre-election strength of 57 seats. Ballot counting for the Lower House election has been delayed at least until Monday in some areas of eight prefectures due to bad weather brought about by the approach of a powerful typhoon. In the first Lower House election since December 2014, the biggest issue was how voters would evaluate the performance of the Abe administration over the past nearly five years. Abe asked voters to allow him to keep the reins of government and continue to push ahead with his Abenomics deflation-fighting policy mix, while setting the victory benchmark at a simple majority of 233 seats for the ruling camp. Opposition parties called for ending Abe-dominated politics but failed to assemble a united front, leaving the ruling coalition to coast to a resounding victory. "I'll face the election victory humbly with the recognition that some members of the public are directing a harsh look at the LDP," Abe said on television Sunday night. Abe scored a victory for the fifth straight national election, gaining momentum for securing a third three-year term as LDP president in the party leadership election in September 2018. Still, Abe said he has yet to have a concrete plan about the LDP leadership race one year ahead. He said he will focus on producing results to live up to the people's expectations. Koike, who was initially expected by some to help rob the LDP-led coalition of its two-thirds majority, conceded defeat. "We suffered a crushing defeat," said Koike, who was visiting Paris on official business. The governor also said she wants lawmakers of her party to take the leading role in managing the party's affairs related to national politics, suggesting that she will keep a distance from national politics. She did not run in the Lower House election this time. But Koike denied any intention to resign as head of the Party of Hope. Meanwhile, CDPJ chief Edano said on TV that he wants to work with many supporters of his fledgling party to create new democracy in Japan. Edano said he aims for a change of government in the next Lower House election. Backed by a tailwind from the Koike party's losing popularity quickly after a promising start and from a split opposition camp, the LDP won at least 282 seats--217 in single-seat constituencies, including three endorsed after the election, and 65 in proportional representation blocs. The LDP's pre-election strength was 290 seats. Attracting support from voters critical of the Abe government, the CDPJ saw the number of its seats increase sharply from its pre-election strength of 15. Winners in the party include former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, former health minister Akira Nagatsuma and Banri Kaieda, former head of the Democratic Part of Japan, the key predecessor of the DP. The Party of Hope has so far won 48 seats. It won only one seat in Tokyo, Koike's supposed stronghold, apparently reflecting a decline in voter expectations of her as a politician who shakes things up. Masaru Wakasa, a close aide to Koike, failed to maintain his seat in the No. 10 constituency in Tokyo. Komeito has grabbed eight seats in single-seat constituencies and 21 in proportional representation blocs. After losing one single-constituency seat, the party is likely to fall short of its pre-election strength of 34 seats. It was the first time since 2009 that a Komeito candidate has lost in a single-seat district. The Japanese Communist Party has gained 12 seats, a setback from 21 seats. Nippon Ishin no Kai, which worked with Koike's party, has won 10 seats but is unlikely to maintain its pre-election number of 14 seats. The Social Democratic Party has gained one seat and is aiming to win another in order to keep its strength of two seats before the election. So far, 23 independent candidates have been elected, including former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, former DP leader Katsuya Okada and former Finance Minister Jun Azumi. Beginning with the latest election, the number of Lower House seats has been cut by 10 to 465, the smallest in the postwar period, to narrow the disparities in the weight of votes. END