The campaign for Japan’s parliamentary elections begins

Japan’s Prime Minister and head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, as official campaigning for a parliamentary election later this month officially began on October 15 . (AP)

Tokyo, Oct. 15 (AP): Official campaigning for Japan’s Oct. 27 parliamentary election began Tuesday with new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba seeking a mandate for his policies and reforms after the scandal of political funds of the governing party. More than 1,300 candidates were expected to enter the races for the 465-seat Lower House before registrations closed later Tuesday.

Ishiba called the snap election after he took office as prime minister on October 1. As has been the custom for the leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party for the past decade, he had to start his campaign in Fukushima to renew his promise to support the recovery of the area from the 2011 nuclear disaster. With the snap election, Ishiba is seeking to secure a majority in the lower house, the most powerful of Japan’s two parliamentary houses, before the congratulatory mood fades.

The measure has been criticized for prioritizing elections over policy and for allowing little debate. The ruling coalition’s majority would be 233 seats between its LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito. Before the dissolution, the coalition had 288 seats, including 256 from the LDP. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which briefly ruled Japan from 2009 to 2012, sees public anger over the LDP’s funds scandal as a rare opportunity to gain ground by appealing to conservative swing voters.

The liberal-leaning CDPJ is making a conservative shift and now has a centrist leader Yoshihiko Noda, also a former prime minister. “A change of leadership is the most important political reform,” Noda said. Political observers say Japan’s opposition has remained too fractured to oust the ruling party, which has held almost uninterrupted postwar power. because Ishiba’s new government already fell from 50% to 42% just over a week after taking office, the LDP was still by far the voter favorite among all political parties.