TOKYO– Japan’s ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito, retained a comfortable majority of the lower house seats, following yesterday’s general election, according to final results early this morning.

Led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the LDP secured 261 seats, taking a majority of the 465-seat lower house on its own, with its partner Komeito occupying 32 seats.

A majority of seats in the powerful chamber of parliament enables the ruling bloc to effectively control all standing committees and steer the legislative process.

The LDP, which previously held 276 seats on its own before the general election, lost some seats to opposition parties, reflecting that the prime minister may have failed to win strong support for his COVID-19, economic and national security policies.

Kishida, who said he will claim victory, if the ruling coalition retains a majority, said last night that, the outcome gives him “a valuable public mandate” to govern.

Regarding the LDP’s loss of seats, Kishida said that he will “analyse the results and firmly accept them.”

The ruling party also suffered a number of high-profile losses. According to Kyodo reports, Akira Amari, the LDP’s secretary general, intends to resign from his post, following his loss in his single-seat constituency in the general election.

The LDP’s No.2 conveyed his intention to resign to other party executives, following media projections that he had lost in his constituency.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK