Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is unlikely to be voted out in the lower house election commenced on Sunday as the opposition is still unable to offer any superior policies to address a pressing living crisis, said a Japanese expert.
Candidates for Japan's main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), are urgently searching for votes. The LDP has provided just 12 days for campaigning before the election. They have been in power for 65 of the last 69 years. But commentators believe this is a rare opportunity for the CDP to make a comeback.
In September it made former prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, its leader. He has been vocally criticizing the LDP's economic policies, saying the LDP rules only for corporate interests and working people do not see the benefits.
The LDP's goal is looking to remain in power. It is still receiving blowback from revelations of senior party members kicking back proceeds to junior members off-the-books. It is expecting to lose seats, and the single-party majority it held in the last parliament. Now party leaders are hoping to form a coalition government after Sunday's poll.
Political pundits believe voters are unhappy about the government's performance but are unlikely to vote-out the LDP this time.
"In most other democracies, voters, when they're unhappy about the economy, tend to vote for one of the opposition parties. That is not necessarily the case with Japan. I expect that, yes, some voters will turn away from the LDP due to the cost of living crisis, but it is not the case that any of the opposition parties has a particularly credible or widely recognized policies that are seen as superior to the LDP," said Willy You, professor of political science, Waseda University.
Even if it can't form a government, the CDP is expected to gain 40 or 50 seats in this election.
While that may not be enough to disrupt the government agenda, it could help the opposition present itself as an alternative government-in-waiting.
LDP unlikely to be voted out as opposition unable to offer superior policies: expert
Japanese voters are demanding the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to address its slush funds scandal and the living crisis as the country's lower house election kicked off on Sunday.
With 465 seats up for grabs in the country's 50th House of Representatives election, a total of 1,344 candidates are running, more than the 1,051 in the last such election in 2021.
Of the 465 seats, 289 will go to directly elected lawmakers from single-seat constituencies nationwide, while another 176 winners will come through a proportional representation system that divides the country into 11 constituencies.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the LDP, has set a modest goal of retaining at least 233 seats for the ruling coalition, enough to maintain a majority in the powerful lower chamber of parliament.
Recent opinion surveys show that the ruling LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito may struggle, as the LDP is facing headwinds over its factional slush funds scandal and may not be able to win even 200 seats, losing its single-party majority.
"The slush funds scandal is not over yet, but the House of Representatives just dissolved like this. I think the House should be dissolved only after it clearly explains the problem. I hope the new cabinet will make clear how the people's tax money is spent," said a resident.
The LDP has reportedly given 20 million yen (about 131,000 U.S. dollars) to party branches where candidates have been denied official party endorsement.
Following the reports, opposition parties were ramping up their criticism of the funds provision, with the head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan describing it as a way to support "clandestine candidates."
"There are so many worrisome aspects, and it's hard for people to positively face up to the reality. I hope all these problems would be addressed in the future," said another resident.
"As a small store, we would prefer to have a policy or an environment that is favorable to small businesses. If there are such measures that benefit us, we would be very happy. The tax pressure is really weighing on us and it would be a lot easier to do business if we could alleviate that," said Yoshiyuki Yonaiguchi, a restaurant owner.
Japanese voters urge LDP to address slush fund scandal, rising living cost
