Ruling LDP maintains two-thirds majority in Japanese election
By
Ben McGrath
23 October 2017
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan will retain power following a landslide victory in yesterday’s general election. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party and its junior coalition partner Komeito also maintained their two-thirds majority in the National Diet’s lower house.
With only a few seats still to be decided, the LDP had received 283 seats, one less than it held before Abe dissolved parliament at the end of September. Komeito dropped five seats, giving it 29. The coalition has a total of 312—securing the two-thirds majority by two. The two main opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and the Party of Hope (Kibō no Tō), received 54 and 49 seats respectively. The Japanese Communist Party’s tally fell from 21 to 12 seats.
The media is declaring Abe’s victory a mandate for his policies. In reality, the election results show a widespread alienation from the political establishment as a whole. The Kyodo news agency estimated voter turnout at 53.83 percent, only slightly higher than the 52.66 percent recorded in 2014’s general election, the lowest in postwar history. Poor weather caused by Typhoon Lan also may have driven down turnout, especially among those alienated from all parties.
Abe, now set to become Japan’s longest serving prime minister in November 2019, used the snap election to claim support for his pro-war policies. This includes his proposed evisceration of Article 9 of the constitution that renounces war and declares Japan will have no armed forces. This remilitarization drive is currently directed at North Korea and more broadly, China.
In a speech on Saturday, Abe stated: “We can no longer let ourselves be…