TOKYO, Japan.— This Sunday, the game of the prime minister Sanae Takaichi would have secured more than two-thirds of the majority in the parliamentary electionsJapanese media reported on Monday, according to preliminary results.
In a televised interview with public broadcaster NHK, Sanae Takaichi said that after the resounding victory she is now ready to pursue her political goals.
They would obtain an absolute majority
Citing results of the vote countsNHK reported on Monday that the Liberal Democratic Party of Sanae Takaichi (LDP), alone ensured 316 seatscomfortably surpassing an absolute majority of 261 seats in the lower house of 465 members, the most powerful in Japan’s bicameral Parliament. This marks a record since the party’s founding in 1955 and surpasses the previous record of 300 seats won in 1986 by the late prime minister. Yasuhiro Nakasone.
Smiling, Sanae Takaichi placed a large red ribbon over each winner’s name on a board at LDP headquarters, as party executives applauded.
Despite not being a majority in the other chamber, the upper chamber, the great jump from the pre-election participation in the lower chamber would allow Sanae Takaichi to advance in a right-wing agenda that seeks to promote the economy and Japan’s military capabilities while increasing tensions with China and she tries to cultivate ties with the United States.
The prime minister said she would steadily advance her political goals as she tries to win support from the opposition.
“I will be flexible,” he said.
He called elections after three months in office
Sanae Takaichi is hugely popular, but the LDP, which has ruled Japan for virtually the last seven decades, has faced funding and religious scandals in recent years. He called Sunday’s snap election just three months after taking office, hoping to change that while his popularity remains high.
The early election after just three months in office “underscores a problematic trend in Japanese politics in which political survival takes priority over substantive policy outcomes,” he said. Masato Kamikuboprofessor of politics at Ritsumeikan University. “Whenever the government attempts necessary but unpopular reforms… the next election is looming.”
Sunday’s voting also began under fresh snowfall across the country, including Tokyo. Northern Japan has seen record snowfall in recent weeks, leading to road blockages and dozens of deaths.
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