In a strong indication of trust in Japan’s new Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida, the country’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), secured a majority in the parliament’s lower house elections that were held over the weekend.
The LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, won 293 of the 465 seats in the National Diet’s lower house of Representatives on Sunday. The LDP won 261 seats, while Komeito secured 32 seats.
According to a forecast by public broadcaster NHK, the LDP was expected to win up to 253 seats, which is a sharp drop from the 276 seats that it held previously. Although initial exit polls had suggested that the LDP would need to rely on its coalition partner for a majority, it defied forecasts and gained enough support to govern without Komeito.
Meanwhile, the LDP’s opposition won 147 seats, including 86 seats for the left-leaning main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), and 34 seats for the centre-right Nippon Ishin no Kai. Ishin, a relatively new right-wing party, scored the biggest numerical jump of any party in terms of seats acquired, as it went from holding 11 seats to taking 41 on Sunday. The party, also known as the Japan Innovation Party, is now the third-largest force in the country’s lower house.
Following the announcement of the results, Kishida said that exit polls demonstrated the public’s faith in the party, which has been in power almost continuously since the 1950s. “If the ruling coalition is given a majority, the government is given trust. It is a big deal,” the new PM said.
“The ruling bloc has secured a majority, and this means we have won the trust of the people,” Kishida said. He further added that the result “will have an impact on the steering of the government,” and had given him “a lot to think about carefully.”
Despite the party losing fewer seats than expected, newspaper editorials have urged Kishida “to act decisively to shore up public support” ahead of the key upper House of Councillors vote, which is set to take place next summer.
Following the announcement of the election results, the PM said on Monday that his government would compile a “large-scale” stimulus package around mid-November and would aim to pass an extra budget by the end of this year.
The package is expected to fight the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and include the promotion of carbon-neutral policies. Kishida has previously declared that the relief measures would be worth tens of trillions of yen.