After decades in power, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to lose an election, according to Japanese media outlets like NHK.PoliticsJapa
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is facing an election defeat after decades in power, according to Japanese media outlets such as NHK.
The Liberal Democratic Party has dominated Japanese politics since 1955.
Projections by Japan’s national broadcaster NHK have shown Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) falling short of a majority for the first time since 2009 after snap elections on Sunday.
The projections leave it unclear whether Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s LDP will be able to achieve a parliamentary majority with its coalition partner, the Komeito party.
According to the NHK figures, the two coalition parties are set to win between 174 and 254 of the 465 seats in the lower house of Japan’s parliament, with 233 needed for a majority.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is predicted to win 128 to 191 seats.
If confirmed, the projections leave the make-up of the future government very uncertain as Japan wrestles with economic setbacks and faces growing assertion from China. The LDP may be forced to look beyond Komeito for a third coalition partner if it wants to get its policies through parliament.
In Japan’s previous general election in 2021, the LDP won a majority in its own right, with 259 seats in parliament’s lower house. Komeito had 32.
