The Japanese unsurprisingly gave their confidence to the ruling coalition on Sunday in Senate elections, according to seat projections, an election that was overshadowed by the assassination Friday of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a election rally.
The Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, nationalist right) to which Mr. Abe belonged, and his ally the Komeito, would win between 70 and 83 seats out of the 125 to be filled, according to projections by the public channel NHK – the Senate has 248 seats, half renewed every three years.
Admitting defeat, Kenta Izumi, leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, which is expected to lose a number of seats, said it was clear that “the voters did not want to change and hand over the government to us”, according to Kyodo News.
The participation rate was only 52%, according to the data available at this stage.
“I think it is important that the elections were able to be held normally”, commented the current Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, adding that he would tackle the important ongoing issues, COVID-19, the Ukraine and inflation.
Two days earlier, the head of government had denounced the “barbaric” attack against Shinzo Abe, his former mentor, insisting on the importance of “defending free and fair elections, which are the foundation of democracy”. “We will never give in to violence,” he added.
The shooting assassination of Mr. Abe, one of the country’s best-known politicians, in Nara, in the west, has deeply hurt and moved people in Japan and abroad, and messages of condolence have poured in from all over the world, including China and South Korea, with which Japan has an often rocky relationship.
religious group
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, traveling in Asia, will stop in Tokyo on Monday to offer his condolences in person, according to the State Department.
Mr Abe’s office told AFP that a wake would be held on Monday evening, and the funeral on Tuesday, with family and loved ones in attendance. They will take place at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, according to local media.
The alleged perpetrator of the attack, arrested at the scene, confessed to having deliberately targeted Mr. Abe, explaining to the police that he was angry at an organization to which he believed that he was affiliated. Some Japanese media mentioned a religious group.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, is believed to be a former member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (the Japanese Navy), and told law enforcement that he used a homemade weapon.
According to several media, he told investigators that he went to Okayama (west) on Thursday with the intention of assassinating Mr. Abe who was taking part in an event there, but finally gave up because the participants had to communicate their names and address.
After being briefly suspended by the various parties at the news of the attack, the electoral campaign had resumed on Saturday with increased security measures, while the police of Nara recognized “undeniable” flaws in those surrounding the rally of Mr Abe.
“New Capitalism”
The campaign was dominated by price increases and risks concerning the supply of electricity, while the heat wave that has affected Japan since the end of June has raised fears of shortages in this area.
“The world economy is stagnating and Japan is also in economic crisis in many ways, with wages not increasing,” said Shigeru Kato, 75, interviewed by AFP after leaving an office. voting in Tokyo. If we do nothing, “Japan will sink even more,” he added.
In a country often criticized for the lack of female representation in its institutions and the management of its companies, a record proportion of 33% of women appeared this Sunday among the 545 candidates.
The looming large senatorial victory would consolidate the power of Fumio Kishida, who has championed a more redistributive economic policy dubbed “new capitalism”, ahead of a three-year period without scheduled elections.
His close cooperation with Japan’s Western allies to put pressure on Russia has also been praised in the Archipelago, and his plan to “significantly” increase the defense budget is also popular, as China continues to assert its territorial ambitions in Asia-Pacific.
The trend of higher defense spending could get even stronger after the election, according to Yu Uchiyama, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo, who believes that (Japan’s) “firm stance on the ‘respect for China will probably be maintained’.