Ruling LDP sweeps Japan’s parliamentary elections after death of Abe

Tokyo, Jul 11 (EFE).- The ruling Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to which the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe belonged, won a sweeping victory in the Upper House election at the weekend, according to electoral data released by the public broadcaster NHK on Monday.

The LDP won at least 63 seats in Sunday’s polls, more than half of the 125 at stake, a victory interpreted as a vote of confidence in the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida amid rising inflation and a tense geopolitical climate.

Its coalition partner Komeito won 13 seats, for a combined 76. Added to the 70 they hold in the other half of the House, the coalition retains a vast majority of 146 seats in the 248-member legislature.

They have been the best electoral results of the LDP since 2013.

The second most voted-for party in this election, in which half of the seats in the Upper House were at stake plus one to fill a vacancy, was the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, with 17 seats, six less than in the previous elections.

The nationalist Japan Innovation Party experienced one of the most notable jumps by securing 12 seats, compared to the six it had, a boost that, together with the force of the LDP, gives traction to constitutional reform, one of the long-sought goals of Abe, who was assassinated on Friday.

The parties in favor of revising the Japanese constitution — the LDP, Komeito, Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People, which won five seats on this occasion, together have 177 seats in the Upper House, above of the two thirds (166) necessary for any amendment.

The Japanese Communist Party obtained four seats in this election, which with those it already had in the other half add up to 11; and the liberal Reiwa Shinsengumi, three seats, up to five, according to the results released.

The remaining seats were shared between minority parties and independent candidates.

The Social Democratic Party, represented by its leader, veteran lawmaker Mizuho Fukushima, retained its seat. Fukushima was running for the fifth time.

The number of elected women reached a new high, with 35.

Participation in these elections is estimated at over 52 percent, according to calculations by the main national media, compared to 48.8 percent in the elections three years ago, when the other half of the Upper House was renewed, by virtue of the Japanese three-year electoral system for this body. EFE

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