Japanese voters headed to the polls on Sunday to cast ballots for seats in the parliament’s upper chamber, in an election that could put Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition on rocky ground.
The election is for half of the 248 seats in the smaller of the two parliamentary houses. Ishiba has said he wants a simple majority of 125 seats, meaning his coalition, which includes his Liberal Democratic Party, would need to add 50 seats to the 75 seats it currently holds.
Before the election, his coalition held 141 seats, but local media predict stiff losses for the prime minister’s coalition.
Ishiba’s coalition lost the lower chamber in October, following corruption scandals and difficulty delivering legislative solutions to economic problems facing the country.
Ahead of Sunday’s election, a right-wing populist party, Sanseito, was surging in media predictions. Soaring prices and economic constraints have been key issues for voters, but several opposition groups have embraced anti-foreigner positions as well.
Sanseito has put forward its “Japanese First” platform and proposes a new agency to centralize policies for foreigners. The party is against globalist policies and embraces anti-vaccine views, as well as traditional gender roles.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, or CDPJ, and the DPP have also gained ground ahead of the election.
If Ishiba’s coalition performs poorly on Sunday, the government would not immediately change since the upper chamber lacks the authority to file a no-confidence vote against a leader, but Ishiba would likely face calls from within his party to step down or find another coalition partner.
The Associated Press contributed.
