Fumio Kishida’s LDP secures 233+ lower house seats

The Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, has further declared victory for this ruling LDP. During a big win for Mr. Kishida, his party has secured lower house seats at more than the number of 233. It is enough to govern the nation without the coalition partner Komeito.

The LDP has successfully dominated the politics of Japan for decades. However, it had faced much criticism for the way it had handled the pandemic.

The former prime minister Yoshihide Suga quit after just a year in office. This resignation came amidst the poll ratings, which were plummeting for LDP after an unpopular push that came with the Tokyo Olympics.

Mr. Kishida has long- targeted the role of prime minister and served as a foreign minister in the country. The LDP went into the general election on Sunday, holding 276 of the total 465 seats.

The initial exit polls have suggested that the LDP would need to rely upon its coalition partner for the majority. However, it had defied the expectations.

The LDP has now won 261 seats. It is now further exceeding the parliamentary majority with the securing of 233 seats. The Komeito, on the other hand, scored 32 seats, which gave the coalition a total number of 293 seats.

Japan’s parliament, National Diet include the upper House of Councillors and the lower House of Representatives. Sunday’s vote is coming with the concern of a more powerful lower house. The vote of the upper house is all set to take place in the next year.

On Monday, the Nikkei 225 benchmark share indexing was close to 2.6% or higher. The investors have bet that the outright majority of LDP will take place. It means that the economic stimulus of Mr. Kishida will pass quite smoothly through the parliament. However, before the election, Mr. Kishida made the promise to spend at least a trillion yen to aid the third-largest economy in the world during the wake of the pandemic. He further said that he had planned for an extra budget before the end of this year.

Credits: BBC