Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election yesterday in a snap poll he had billed as a referendum on his economic policies after early success faded into a recession.
However, a low turnout from unenthusiastic voters beset by heavy snowfall across much of the nation could cast doubt on the endorsement he will claim for “Abenomics” — his signature plan to resurrect the country’s flaccid economy.
Media exit polls shortly after voting finished showed his ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) and its junior partner, Komeito, had swept the ballot, with an unassailable two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament that will give them the power to override the upper house.
Photo: AFP
TV Asahi said the pairing had won 333 of the 475 seats, while TBS put the figure at 328.
The online version of the Nikkei Shimbun newspaper said the LDP alone had won between 290 and 310 seats, and was “on course to secure the two thirds [317 seats] in the chamber with coalition partner Komeito.”
“This victory will enhance Abe’s political capital and allow him to tackle tough issues more comfortably,” University of Niigata Prefecture politics professor Yoshinobu Yamamoto said.
Abe, 60, was only halfway through his four-year term when he called the vote last month.
Abe has been criticized for not being bold enough in taking on the vested interests that are the real key to reversing nearly two decades of economic underperformance.
His fresh four-year mandate may stiffen his resolve for economic reforms and see off opposition from within his ill-disciplined LDP, a party given to bouts of regicide.
However, with only 34.98 percent of voters casting ballots by 6pm, there might be questions over whether this really is an endorsement, or just the default reaction of an electorate numbed by a lack of viable alternatives.
The turnout at 6pm was down 6.79 points from the 2012 election.
However, early voting — which was completed by Saturday — was up by almost a tenth from the previous poll, to approximately 13 million ballots, according to the government.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga dismissed quibbles over the low turnout.
“We don’t know which party will benefit from a low turnout rate, so we think we received [a mandate from voters],” he told TBS.
“The prime minister feels very strongly about pulling Japan out of deflation and revitalizing the Japanese economy,” he said.
Voters polled in the run up to the ballot were uninspired by the choices on offer.
Only two-thirds of respondents told Kyodo News last week that they were interested in the election.
Many Japanese have been left bitterly disappointed by three years under the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009, which saw three emasculated prime ministers and a series of policy flops.
NO CONSENSUS YET: Local governments and the CECC have agreed to change the ‘3+4’ self-isolation policy, but are still mulling what to replace it with The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and local governments have agreed to ease restrictions on close contacts of COVID-19 cases, although the details are still being discussed, the center said yesterday. The discussions follow Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday approving a proposal to shorten the “3+4” policy — three days of home isolation followed by four days of self-disease prevention — for close contacts who have received booster doses. “We did not reach a consensus on how to revise the current restrictions, but we all agreed that the administrative burden must be reduced and the intensity of restrictions must be eased,
OPPOSING CHINESE ‘HOSTILITY’: The bill orders the state secretary to create a plan to regain observer status for Taiwan, saying Taipei is a model contributor to world health US President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill into law to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), demonstrating Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. Friday was the deadline for Biden to sign the bill (S.812), which directs “the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization (WHO), and for other purposes.” The 75th WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, is scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday next week to May 28. The bill, introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate
REACHING OUT: President Tsai expressed condolences to the deceased man’s family and wished a speedy recovery to those who were wounded in the shooting The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) on Monday called on the US to label organizations associated with the suspect in the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church shooting as domestic terrorists, following accusations that he was a member of a group backing unification with ties to the Chinese government. David Wenwei Chou (周文偉), 68, was arrested on Sunday and is being held in lieu of US$1 million bail at the Orange County Intake Release Center over a mass shooting at the California church that left one dead and five wounded. Local police suspect the shooting was politically motivated after they found notes in
‘DAMOCLES SWORD’: An Italian missionary said the arrest of cardinal Zen is a blow for the church in Hong Kong, China and the world, signaling great danger ahead China yesterday defended the arrest of a 90-year-old Catholic cardinal under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, a move that triggered international outrage and deepened concerns over Beijing’s crackdown on freedoms in the territory. Retired cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, was among a group of veteran democracy advocates arrested on Wednesday for “colluding with foreign forces.” Pop singer Denise Ho (何韻詩), veteran barrister Margaret Ng (吳靄儀) and cultural studies academic Hui Po-keung (許寶強) were also arrested, the latter as he attempted to fly to Europe to take up an academic post. Cyd Ho (何秀蘭), a democracy
RSS