The campaign for Japan’s parliamentary elections begins on October 27 | world news

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 in leadership is the most important political reform, Noda said.

Political observers say Japan’s opposition has remained too fractured to oust the ruling party from power, which it has held almost uninterruptedly in the post-war era.

Although support ratings in the Kyodo News poll for Ishiba’s new government had already dropped from 50% to 42% just over a week after taking office, the LDP was still by far , the favorite of voters among all political parties.

First post: October 15, 2024 | 9:58 AM IST