Voting under way in Japan election, polls predict Abe’s gamble likely to pay off
Recent opinion polls have suggested the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito will maintain a comfortable majority in the lower house
More than 100 million voters began casting ballots on Sunday in an election that may clear the way for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to become Japan’s longest-serving leader.
Voting opened at 7am and closes at 8pm (7pm Hong Kong time), when major domestic media outlets will publish the results of their exit polls. In the past, they have accurately predicted the outcome.
Polls project that Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito will maintain control of parliament while two opposition groups vie for second place. It’s unclear if Abe’s coalition will retain its two-thirds majority, which would make it easier for them to pass changes to the constitution.
A victory for Abe would bring continuity to economic policies, including the massive monetary easing that has weakened the yen and bolstered exports in Asia’s second-biggest economy. He’s campaigned on his economic record, which includes six straight quarters of growth and low unemployment even as he’s struggled to defeat deflation and boost pay.
Abe has cultivated close ties with US President Donald Trump this year in a bid to keep the US alliance strong amid growing unease over North Korea’s ballistic missiles. He’s seeking the first-ever change to the 70-year-old pacifist constitution to affirm the legality of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.
Abe called the election more than a year early in apparent bid to capitalise on fears over North Korea and a weakened opposition. The Constitutional Democratic Party, running second in most polls, was set up only about two weeks ago by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano after its predecessor split up. Other opposition lawmakers defected to populist Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike’s upstart Party of Hope.