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Japan’s House of Representatives election unlikely to produce major change

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23 Oct 2021 06:10:10 GMT9
23 Oct 2021 06:10:10 GMT9

Khaldon Azhari

TOKYO: With a general election just a week away, Japan’s opposition parties are hoping a united front will see an end to the domination of politics by the Liberal Democratic Party and its ally Komeito. 

The campaign kicked off officially on Oct.19, with more than a thousand candidates vying for the 465 seats in the House of Representatives, the legislative branch of the state. Before dissolving the House of Representatives, the ruling coalition had 305 seats, of which 276 were for the Liberal Democratic Party and 29 for its partner Komeito. Opposition parties, independents, and small groups shared the rest of the seats.

The Diet comprises the House of Representatives, whose members are elected for 4-year terms, and the House of Councillors, whose 252 members are in office for six years. Representation in the House of Councillors is partly a constituency-based vote and partly proportional representation. The number of Japanese voters is more than 100 million.

 The Liberal Democratic Party has retained power since Sept. 2012 in alliance with the Komeito Party. Since that year, the party and government has been led by Shinzo Abe –until his resignation on Aug. 28 last year – Yoshihide Suga, who succeeded Abe on Sept. 16 last year, and Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio, who succeeded Suga after an LDP presidential election on Oct. 4.

 The electoral programs are largely focused on addressing the coronavirus pandemic and economic measures to support the economy affected by the crisis. The elections are unlikely to affect Japanese foreign policy as it is based on the Japan-US military treaty, the “cornerstone of Japan’s foreign policy.”

 Kishida says he wants to expand the middle class by correcting economic disparities and adopting a large-scale economic package worth hundreds of billions of dollars to combat the pandemic and its effects, and to support small businesses and the poor. 

 Since losing power in 2012, Japan’s fractured opposition parties have suffered from a lack of a united front.  The parties seem to be constantly dismantling themselves and forming new parties or merging with each other. In the current election, four opposition parties have decided to unite many of their candidates so that there will be a one-on-one fight in many constituencies. The absence of any strong opposition party to match the LDP has led to “arrogance and inaction” by the ruling party, analysts say.

 Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the Komeito Party, said that cooperation between opposition parties is only a brief phenomenon “and we cannot hand over the reins of government to unstable opposition parties.”

 Yukio Edano, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, says his party aims to reform politics and the economy, and also wants to boost the middle class through economic redistribution. “Let’s go back to honest politics and change outdated policies,” he said. 

We are completely ready. Let’s start changing the government. Edano said.

Let’s share that wealth. Let’s make people who make money through stocks pay more taxes,” he continued.

 Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned in a statement that the current recovery trend of the economy is incomplete. The Chamber asked the government to support small businesses in the tourism sectors.

The policies of the candidates and the parties remain vague and there is little hope of change among the electorate, analysts say. A number of opinion polls indicate that Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its Komeito ally are on track to retain a majority in the House of Representatives in the general election.

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