Elections in Japan Today

Last Updated on October 27, 2024 5:28 am

Japan’s general election is Sunday. Candidates are busy campaigning for the election on Saturday (October 26) to attract voters.

Opinion polls show that the current ruling coalition government may not even get an outright majority in this election.

If that happens, it will bring the worst result for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2009. It will also be a major blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Shigeru Ishiba came to power only last month with the LDP. The party has been in power in Japan for almost seven decades. After an internal party competition, the 67-year-old former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba took office on October 1.

Within days of taking office, Ishiba announced early parliamentary elections on October 27, promising to create a “new Japan.”

Ishiba came to power on a promise to revive depressed rural areas and to introduce flexible working hours to address Japan’s shrinking population, declaring a state of emergency for the sake of public peace. He also included two women in his cabinet.

According to a poll in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Friday, the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito may not even get the 233 seats needed for the lower house, meaning Ishiba will have to find another party to form his coalition government.

Local newspapers are also reporting that Shigeru Ishiba may resign. If he does, he would be Japan’s shortest-serving prime minister since World War II. “The situation is very complicated,” Ishiba told Japanese media.

In several districts, LDP candidates face stiff competition from candidates from the country’s Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP). The CDP is the second largest party in the country’s parliament. It is led by former minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Yoshihiko Noda told a rally on Saturday that the LDP’s policies are about quick implementation. For which they have to pay cash. And those who cannot spend money are neglected. Such policies must change. Source: AFP

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