Japan's LDP wins majority in lower house election
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E-mail Xinhua, October 23, 2017
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Japanese Prime Minister and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shinzo Abe poses while putting a rosette on his name at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 22, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] |
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has won a majority in Sunday's lower house election.
As of 11:20 p.m. local time (1420 GMT), the LDP has secured 240 seats of the 465-seat lower house of parliament while there were still some 90 seats undecided with vote counting still going on.
Earlier media exit polls showed that the LDP is likely to win 253 to 300 seats, while its coalition partner the Komeito Party is expected to win 27 to 36 seats.
The "reform conservative" Party of Hope led by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) formed by the liberal wing of the collapsing Democratic Party, are vying for the largest opposition.
Meanwhile, pro-constitutional reform forces are set to secure over two thirds of the lower house seats, paving the way for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to realize his long-term ambition of revising the post-war pacifist constitution.
"I want to accept this victory with humility," Abe told a television program after the election.
He said he expects "debates on revising the constitution to deepen" in the parliament so as to seek more support from various forces on the issue, though adding that there was no time frame set for the debate.
Yoshihiko Noda, former prime minister, said that the opposition forces should have been able to win more seats with support rating for Abe's cabinet dropping amid scandals, but the splitting-up of the opposition benefited the ruling camp.
Voter turnout was expected to be around 53.60 percent, slightly higher than the record low of 52.66 percent for the previous lower house election in 2014, according to a NHK projection.
A powerful typhoon approaching the Japanese archipelago, bringing rain and strong winds and disrupting traffic, was expected to weigh on the turnout, but a record high of 21 million people, or around 20.1 percent of the eligible population, have cast their ballots earlier.
Due to the typhoon, regional election boards in some municipalities have announced that ballot counting in those areas will be delayed to Monday.
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