TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s ruling party and its coalition partner won a landslide victory in a meaningful parliamentary election on Sunday following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid uncertainty over how his loss can affect party unity.
The Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito raised their joint quota in the chamber from 248 seats to 146, far beyond the majority, in the elections for half of the seats in the less powerful upper house.
With the impetus, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will rule without interruption until the elections scheduled for 2025.
This would allow Kishida to work on long-term policies such as national security, its economic policy, but still vague, of the “new capitalism” and his party’s much-loved goal of amending the post-war pacifist constitution drafted by the states. Units.
A letter change proposal is now a possibility. With the help of two opposition parties in favor of a letter change, the ruling bloc now has a two-thirds majority in the chamber needed to propose an amendment, making it a realistic possibility. The governing bloc has already secured support for the other chamber.
Kishida welcomed the important victory, but does not smile, given the loss of Abe and the hard work of unifying his party without him. In interviews in the media on Sunday afternoon, Kishida repeated, “Party unity is more important than anything else.”
He said answers to COVID-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and rising prices will be his priorities. He said he will also constantly push to strengthen Japan’s national security as well as a constitutional amendment.
Kishida and the party’s top lawmakers observed a moment of silence for Abe at the party’s election headquarters before placing the victory ribbons on the blackboard next to the names of the candidates who won their seats.
Abe, 67, was shot while delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara on Friday and died of a massive blood loss. He was Japan’s longest-serving political leader for two terms and, although he resigned in 2020, he had great influence in the LDP while leading his largest faction, Seiwakai.
“This could be a turning point” for the LDP on its divisive policies on gender equality, same-sex marriages and other issues that ultraconservatives backed by Abe with paternalistic family values had resisted, Mitsuru Fukuda said. professor of crisis management at Nihon. University.
It is unlikely that Japan’s current diplomatic and security position will be influenced because Abe had already made fundamental changes. His ultranationalist views and pragmatic policies made him a divisive figure for many, even in Korea and China.
After the assassination, Sunday’s vote took on a new meaning, with all of Japan’s political leaders stressing the importance of free speech and defending democracy against acts of violence.
Abe’s murder may have resulted in votes of sympathy. Sunday’s turnout was around 52%, about 3 points more than the previous 48.8% in 2019.
“It was extremely significant that we held the election,” Kishida said Sunday. “Our effort to protect democracy continues.”
On the last day of the campaign on Saturday, party leaders avoided punches and other friendly gestures in close contact with the public, a sign of increased security after Abe’s assassination during a campaign rally.
Abe’s body has been returned home to Tokyo’s elegant Shibuya, where many bad guys, including Kishida and senior party officials, paid tribute. His awakening and funeral are expected in the coming days.
On Sunday, the suspect accused of his murder was taken to a local prosecutor’s office for further investigation, and a senior regional police official acknowledged that possible security breaches allowed the gunman to approach Abe and shoot him. -his homemade weapon.
The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he acted because of rumors of Abe’s connection to an organization that bothered him, police said, but had no problem with the former leader’s political views. The man hated a religious group that his mother was obsessed with and that failed a family business, according to media reports, including some who identified the group as the Unification Church.
Nara prefectural police chief Tomoaki Onizuka said on Saturday that security issues were undeniable, that the shooting was taken seriously and he would review security procedures.
Abe left office two years ago blaming the recurrence of ulcerative colitis he had suffered since he was a teenager. He said he regretted leaving many of his goals unfinished, including the revision of the Japanese constitution renouncing war. Although some conservatives consider the post-World War II letter a humiliation, the public is more in favor of the document.
Abe was prepared to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” nation with a stronger army through a security alliance with the United States and a more important role in international affairs.
He became Japan’s youngest prime minister in 2006, at the age of 52. But his first stage, too nationalist, ended abruptly a year later, also because of his health, and led to six years of annual leadership change.
He returned to office in 2012, promising to revitalize the nation and get its economy out of the deflationary crisis with its “Abenomics” formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms. He won six national elections and had solid control of power.
Japan is known for its strict gun laws. With a population of 125 million, it had only 21 gun-related criminal cases by 2020, according to the latest government crime document. Experts say, however, that some recent attacks involved the use of consumer goods such as gasoline, suggesting a higher risk for normal people to be involved in mass attacks.