Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition is on track for a big win in Sunday’s general election – even though almost half the country’s voters don’t want him to keep his job, a media survey showed on Monday. Behind that paradox is…
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition is on track for a big win in Sunday’s general election – even though almost half the country’s voters don’t want him to keep his job, a media survey showed on Monday.
Behind that paradox is a fizzling challenge by an upstart party led by Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike, a divided opposition and jitters about a volatile North Korea that incline wary voters toward a safe pair of hands, political analysts said.
Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to win between 281 to 303 seats in the 465-member lower house, while its junior coalition partner the Komeito is on track to take 30-33 seats, the Mainichi newspaper said, based on an Oct 13-15 survey.
That would put the ruling bloc on track to maintain the two-third’s „super majority“ it held before the chamber was dissolved for the snap election.
That means Abe’s grip on his post is all but assured when parliament convenes to elect a premier after Sunday’s poll.
The Mainichi survey, however, showed 47% of voters would prefer not to see Abe stay in his post.
