Posted10 July 2022, 00:46
The Japanese go to the polls this Sunday for the senatorial elections. Elections moved into the background following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday.
The senatorial elections will take place in a climate of tension this Sunday in Japan. Here in the city of Fujiyoshida.
AFP
Japanese voters vote this Sunday to renew half of the Upper House of Parliament, an election largely overshadowed by the assassination two days earlier of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election rally in Nara (west of the country) .
Japan’s current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, nationalist right) was widely favored in the polls, denounced the “barbaric” attack on 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 alleged perpetrator arrested
The shooting assassination of Shinzo Abe, one of the Archipelago’s best-known politicians, 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 often rocky relations. The alleged perpetrator of the attack, arrested at the scene, confessed to having deliberately targeted Shinzo 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.
This 41-year-old man named Tetsuya Yamagami is said to be a former member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (the Japanese Navy), and told law enforcement that he used a homemade weapon.
Inflation at the heart of concerns
After being briefly suspended by the various parties at the news of the former prime minister’s attack, the election campaign resumed on Saturday with heightened security measures, as the police in Nara acknowledged “undeniable” flaws in those surrounding Shinzo Abe’s meeting. It was dominated by local concerns, in particular price rises and risks concerning electricity supply, while the heat wave that has affected Japan since the end of June has raised fears of a power shortage.
The ruling coalition, formed by the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) of Fumio Kishida, 64, and his ally Komeito, might according to projections win more than 70 seats out of the 125 to be filled on Sunday (the Senate has a total of 248 seats, half renewed every three years). For lack of being able to present an attractive alternative, the center-left Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC) risks, according to the polls, losing part of the 45 seats it currently holds, and its place as the main opposition force.
Only 33% of the 545 candidates are women
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 are among the 545 candidates this Sunday.
A large victory in the senatorial elections would consolidate the power of Fumio Kishida, who has championed a more redistributive economic policy called “new capitalism”, before a period of three years 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 might strengthen further following 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’.
(AFP)
