Japan ruling party wins big in polls in wake of Abe's death

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s governing party and its coalition partner scored a major victory in a parliamentary election Sunday imbued with meaning after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid uncertainty about how his loss may affect party unity.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito raised their combined share in the 248-seat chamber to 146 — far beyond the majority — in the elections for half of the seats in the less powerful upper house.

With the boost, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stands to rule without interruption until a scheduled election in 2025.

That would allow Kishida to work on long-term policies such as national security, his signature but still vague “new capitalism” economic policy, and his party’s long-cherished goal to amend the U.S.-drafted postwar pacifist constitution.



Fumio Kishida, second left, Japan's prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), speaks after placing a red paper rose on an LDP candidate's name, to indicate a victory in the upper house election, at the party's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, July 10, 2022. (Toru Hanai, Pool Photo via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/shinzo-abe-japan-tokyo-elections-assassinations-1631cccdc3c1d8997cd9d17544e68d66

[rpannier]

1. Disappointed, but not surprised

The LDP has members with influence who make trump seem almost not crazy
There needs to be some check on those people

[GregariousGroundhog]

4. Doesn't the LDP also have a number of strong factions within it?

I don't follow Japanese politics closely, but my understanding is that the LDP has a number of factions which basically runs the gamut from centrist to far right nationalist.

[betsuni]

2. Right-wing M.E.N.

My husband always votes for commies and non-right-wing women. Extremely low voter turnout, last I heard.

[rpannier]

5. 51%. Higher than last election for upper house

For Japanese elections not involving who gets to be Prime Minister, it's not a terrible number (3% higher than last time)
When you consider how feckless most Japanese opposition parties are, it's not surprising the turnouts are low because they are seldom in doubt

[barbaraann]

3. One reason - In Japan, rural voters count more than those in big cities

By: New York Times |
Updated: October 29, 2021 3:03:24 pm

In some ways, the power of Japan’s rural population parallels the political landscape in the United States, where each state has two senators regardless of population size — giving the Republican Party an outsized advantage because of its dominance of rural states.

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/in-japan-rural-voters-count-more-than-those-in-big-cities-7596913/

[rpannier]

6. That is one reason

But the biggest reason is the ineptitude of opposition parties
The LDP has the highest trust rating at around 35% (2019)
The other parties (except for the JCP) all score under 10%.
Their low scores are well-earned

[barbaraann]

8. Yes.

I see that my post could be interpreted more than one way and you are indeed correct that the overrepresentation of rural areas is just one reason.

[Martin68]

7. The LDP always wins in Japan. Nothing new.