EPA
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NOS News•today, 05:21•Amended today, 07:16
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Japanese voters have given Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party LDP a huge election victory. After counting all the votes, the party appears to have won 63 of the 125 electable seats in the upper house. Together with coalition partner Komeito, the party claimed 76 electable seats. As a whole, the coalition now holds 146 of the 248 seats, while 125 seats are needed for a majority.
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Prime Minister Kishida thus has sufficient support to implement reforms. The country’s economy has been faltering since the outbreak of the corona crisis, and food and energy prices are causing problems for many Japanese.
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After the election victory, the discussion about amending the country’s pacifist constitution will also flare up again. It was drawn up in 1947 by the American occupying forces. It states, among other things, that Japan is not allowed to have a standing army. The LPD believes that the constitution harms Japan’s security position and wants to replace or amend the constitution.
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Death Abe casts shadow
The biggest champion of that constitutional renewal was the Japanese ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The elections were overshadowed by his death. Abe, 67, was gunned down on Friday while campaigning for the election. He died a few hours later in hospital. The campaign resumed on Saturday. Politicians wanted to show that they will not bow to terror.
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