Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd L), who is also leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), smiles with LDP policy chief Tomomi Inada (R), Secretary-General Sadakazu Tanigaki (2nd R) and Vice-President Masahiko Komura as they put a rosette on the name of a candidate who is expected to win the upper house election, at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo, Japan July 10, 2016.
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Japanese voters headed to the polls Sunday to cast their ballot in a parliamentary election with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party expected to cruise to victory despite lukewarm support.
The broadcaster projects the coalition and two smaller parties to win a two-thirds majority and the Liberal Democrats could receive a simple majority alone for the first time since 1989.
Gaining a super majority in both houses of parliament is the first requirement for changing the U.S.-imposed constitution, which hasn’t been modified since it was enacted in 1947.
Exit polls and early returns showed the ruling coalition claiming more than the 61 seats needed to fulfill Abe’s objective. That kind of support could be enough for Abe to push forward with rewriting Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution. The Abe-led ruling bloc already secured an overwhelming majority in the lower house.
The LDP and Komeito have 60 lawmakers among the half of the members of the upper chamber whose seats are being contested on Sunday.
The document, which renounces Japan’s right to wage war, is deplored by nationalists as a relic from Japan’s World War II defeat. The Buddhist-backed coalition Komeito party has said it’s open to adding clauses to the constitution though it is cautious about making changes to Article 9.
This is the first nationwide election since the voting age was lowered from 20 to 18. But that has not weakened Abe in recent elections, although he has made clear that he is eager to restart reactors that were idled after the nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl, and make atomic energy a Japanese export.
Abe had repeatedly stressed during his campaign that his “Abenomics” program, centered on easy lending and a cheap yen to encourage exports, is still unfinished, and that patience is needed for results.
“I voted hoping the economy of the country gets better”.
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Shinichi Nishikawa, professor of political science at Meiji University in Tokyo, said the result, though undeniably a win, was no mandate.
