TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide suffered a heavy blow as his ruling party failed to win any of three parliamentary races conducted Sunday, which had been seen as a test of voter sentiment ahead of a general election to be held by autumn.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is “facing a wave of voter dissatisfaction,” a party executive said Sunday, referring to criticism of money scandals involving current and former LDP lawmakers and the government’s struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Suga said, “We accept the people’s judgment in a humble way and will correct what needs to be corrected.”

In Sunday’s three elections, the LDP focused on a House of Councillors race in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, which has many conservative voters, believing the party was unlikely to win the other two contests.

But the LDP faced a strong headwind in Hiroshima from a vote-buying scandal involving former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his wife, Anri, both former LDP lawmakers elected from the prefecture.

“Voter sentiment was more negative toward the LDP than expected,” said a party Lawmaker who campaigned in support of the LDP’s candidate in Hiroshima. Allegations of another money scandal involving former industry minister Isshu Sugawara, who is close to Suga, were another blow to the LDP.

Suga, who previously supported Anri, was unable to visit Hiroshima during the campaign. Another setback for the LDP was the government’s failure to prevent a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

Younger LDP members expressed concern about their futures. “There may be calls to replace the prime minister before the general election,” one of them said.

But the LDP has no consensus candidate to succeed Suga. Former party policy chief Fumio Kishida, who aims to run in the next LDP presidential race, was damaged by Sunday’s election loss in Hiroshima, as he led the campaigning there as head of the party’s prefectural chapter.

There are no signs that LDP factions will move to dismiss Suga, as senior party members agree that the LDP must be united in the fight against the pandemic.

Opposition parties successfully worked together to win Sunday’s elections. An opposition lawmaker who once served as a cabinet minister said, “The people are increasingly seeking to punish the LDP.”

Yukio Edano, leader of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters on Monday that Sunday’s election results reflected voters’ disapproval of money-oriented politics.

Edano said the CDP will step up discussions with other opposition parties on cooperation in the general election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. But they need to resolve differences for full unity.

In one of Sunday’s races, an Upper House election in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, the Democratic Party for the People reacted angrily to a policy agreement struck between the CDP’s candidate and the Japanese Communist Party to correct the government’s foreign policy reliance on the Japan-U.S. alliance.

“It’s hard to say this was a real united front,” Akira Koike, head of the JCP’s secretariat, told a news conference on April 19. A senior CDP member said, “We should not be excited” about Sunday’s results.

JIJI Press