Created on July 10, 2022 | 07:32
Reading time: 2 mins
Half of the seats in Japan’s upper house are elected
Photo:
APA/Archyde.com
Bhe turnout in the upper house elections in Japan following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is becoming apparent.
By the morning (11:00 a.m. local time, 4:00 a.m. CEST), 10.44 percent of those eligible to vote had cast their votes, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Sunday. In the last election for the House of Lords in 2019, the turnout at that time was 9.7 percent.
According to media reports, around 15 percent of voters have already voted by post. The polling stations are open until 8:00 p.m. (local time, 1:00 p.m. CEST). The first forecasts are then expected.
Even before Abe was shot, observers were expecting a victory for the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), party friend and Abe’s protégé. The elections to the less influential upper house, which take place every three years, are seen as a mood barometer for the government. According to polls, the LDP can hope for 60 of the 125 seats up for election. It currently has 55. In total, the lower house of the Japanese parliament has 248 seats. About half are reassigned every three years.
Abe was shot dead while delivering a campaign speech on Friday. The election campaign was initially interrupted, but resumed on Saturday under increased security measures. Kishida refused to postpone the election.
