elections without surprises, the dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party continues

There does not appear to have been any “Abe effect” after the July 8 bombing: turnout was 52%. After obtaining a majority, the PLD will be free to define the next legislative agenda. Investigations into the killer’s mother’s ties to the Unification Church continue.

Tokyo ( / Agencies) – The Japanese elections ended without major surprises, with the victory of the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito. In yesterday’s elections, the renewal of half of the Upper House was at stake: 124 seats, for a term of six years. The other half was elected three years ago and will not be renewed until 2025. The vote took place just two days after the attack that caused Abe Shinzō’s deathone of the most prominent and influential politicians in the country.

Thanks to the high percentage of votes obtained by the PLD in the electoral contest, the government managed to increase its own parliamentary majority with a few seats. With 146 seats out of a total of 248, the coalition between the PLD and the Komeito consolidates control of the Legislature. The Liberal Democrats won eight seats, thus reaching 119 and approaching the threshold of an absolute majority as a lone bloc. Over the next three years, the Conservative government will have ample room to set the legislative agenda.

The performance of the opposition was poor: with each group presenting its own candidates, it did nothing more than divide the vote of the anti-PLD electorate. A strategy that does not work in a predominantly majority electoral system. The Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC), the first opposition party, lost several seats, dropping to 49 in total. The Nippon Ishin no Kai, which according to some polls could have overtaken the PDC in this electoral round, failed to beat him. In the general election last year, the Osaka-based party achieved an excellent result at the national level, surpassing the regional level for the first time. However, in yesterday’s elections, Nippon Ishin’s candidates did not get the results they hoped for, and the party fell short of the goal of doubling the number of seats that some polls had announced.

In essence, the political landscape does not change much from the pre-vote balance. After a election campaign that did not inflame the spirits or excite the voters, the low influx to the polls favored the maintenance of the liberal-democratic dominance. The turnout figure deserves reflection: only 52.16% of voters turned out to vote, which represents a minimal increase compared to the 48.8% registered three years ago. In fact, there does not seem to have been an “Abe effect” in the vote, despite the calls to participate in the elections after the July 8 attack.

In the hours after the election, media attention is focused on the profile of Yamagami Tetsuya, the man who attacked the former Japanese prime minister. After the first confusing and contradictory statements, the police follow a lead that would link Abe’s murder to his involvement in a religious sect called the Unification Church. The sect, founded in Korea in the 1950s, has deep ties to the international conservative movement. Although it seems that Abe never joined the sect, he had participated in its conventions in the past. Yamagami’s family reportedly suffered financial hardship due to his mother’s large donations to the cult and the terrorist allegedly sought revenge by shooting Abe.