Election for Japan's Lower House began on Sunday at about 46,000 polling stations across the country with voters set to pass judgment on new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's anti-coronavirus measures and economic policies. Some 1,051 candidates are vying for the 465 seats at stake — 289 from single-seat constituencies and 176 through proportional representation in 11 regions. Some 106 million Japanese citizens aged 18 or older are eligible to vote until polling stations close by 8:00 p.m. with vote counting to begin immediately after the polls close. The results are expected to be known by Monday morning. The 64-year-old Kishida, who took office on Oct. 4 and dissolved the Lower House 10 days later, has said he will claim a victory if his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and coalition partner Komeito win an overall majority with a combined 233 seats. It is the first parliamentary election for the Lower House since October 2017, when the LDP-led coalition won a comfortable victory. As of Saturday, the LDP had 276 seats and Komeito had 29 in the 465-member strong chamber, which has the power to appoint a prime minister. Kishida is seeking a public mandate for his COVID-19, economic and security policies while capitalizing on his experience as foreign minister and policy chief of the ruling LDP. The outcome of the first general election in four years hinges on dozens of battleground constituencies, where ruling coalition candidates were neck-and-neck with those of opposition parties that have united in a bid to take the reins of government. Facing his first major test since taking office on Oct. 4, Kishida has promised to spur growth in the world's third-largest economy while redistributing the spoils to the middle class under his vision of "new capitalism." The government will secure more hospital beds to treat COVID-19 patients in preparation for a possible sixth wave of infections and will draw up a stimulus package within the year to help people and businesses hit hard by the pandemic, he has said. In addition to deciding whether Kishida gets his mandate, the election is also seen as a referendum on nearly nine years of LDP-led government under Kishida's predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties argue the government has botched its COVID-19 response and that the Abenomics policy mix has only served to widen income disparity by boosting corporate earnings and share prices while failing to achieve higher wages. Media polls suggest the ruling coalition will retain its majority — at least 233 seats — in the 465-member lower house, which has special powers not given to the upper chamber, the House of Councilors, including having the final say in electing the prime minister, passing state budgets and ratifying international treaties. But the LDP, which has governed Japan for most of the past six decades, may fall significantly short of the 276 seats it held. A Kyodo News survey conducted earlier this week showed LDP candidates were in close battles with opposition rivals in around 70 single-member districts, with about 40 percent of voters still undecided. The CDPJ, which had 110 seats before Kishida dissolved the lower chamber on Oct. 14, has challenged the ruling coalition by allying with other opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist Party, to get behind the same candidates in competitive constituencies. The opposition parties call for lowering the consumption tax to lessen the burden on low- and middle-class households, allow married couples to take separate surnames and recognize same-sex marriage. They also argue for abandoning nuclear energy in favor of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions. The ruling coalition, meanwhile, criticizes the CDPJ and its allies for banding together despite their differing stances on foreign and security policies, saying such discrepancies make them unfit to govern. The CDPJ has put the Japan-US alliance at the core of its foreign and security policy platforms, but the JCP is calling for abolishing the security treaty between Tokyo and Washington — a scenario that would please China, Russia and North Korea. The LDP aims to double defense spending to around 2 percent of gross domestic product to deal with Beijing's military buildup and missile threats from Pyongyang. The LDP says it will consider acquiring the capability to launch strikes on enemy bases as part of efforts to boost deterrence. — Agencies
