Kishida gets mandate as ruling bloc keeps majority in election衆院選、与党で絶対安定多数確保

Japan’s ruling coalition retained a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives following the Oct. 31 general election, giving Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a mandate to implement his COVID-19, economic and national security agendas.

But Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party saw its number of seats drop by 15 to 261, suffering a number of high-profile losses, with Akira Amari offering to resign as the party’s secretary general following his loss to an opposition rival.

The LDP and its partner, Komeito, secured 294 of the 465 seats in the Diet’s powerful Lower House, enough to effectively control all standing committees and steer the legislative process.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which had criticized the LDP-led government’s pandemic response and vowed to reduce income disparities, also lost seats, down 14 to 96, despite fielding unified candidates through an agreement with other opposition groups, including the Japanese Communist Party.

Meanwhile, the Japan Innovation Party, an opposition group that did not join the CDP-led alliance, won 41 seats, nearly quadruple the number it held prior to the election.

Kishida told reporters Nov. 1 he was “encouraged” by the ruling coalition’s performance and that he will “build on this result in running the government and the Diet.” (Kyodo)