The opening of more than 45,000 schools Japanese electoral elections at 7:00 a.m. local time (23:00 GMT on Saturday) have begun the voting day for the early general elections that Japan celebrates this Sunday and in which participation is expected to be around 50%
The Japanese people have already begun to cast their papers in the polls and their votes will decide the configuration of the Lower Housewhere the ruling force, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), could lose strength, although probably not enough for a change in the government to occur, according to the latest local media surveys.
The Japanese elections come at a time of discontent among the population over the price rise and the lack of salary increasesand before the elections in the United States on November 5, which according to experts will have more weight than the general elections in Japan when it comes to marking the Tokyo heading in matters of security and foreign affairs, and will condition the relations of the archipelago with China in the context of rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
Polls indicate that the LDP, led by the prime minister, Shigeru Ishibawill continue to lead the Asian country, but could lack support to obtain the simple majority on its own, set at 233 seats out of the total of 465, and may need to reach an agreement with other parliamentary groups or recognize independent legislators.
Until now, the PLD governed in coalition with the Komeito Buddhist party and together they could achieve most necessary to be able to administer Japan.
It is also expected that the opposition, whose main group is the Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC) of Yoshihiko Nodathe last leader of a force other than the PLD, gains parliamentary ground and takes away from the formation with the greatest representation the comfort with which it has governed almost uninterruptedly since 1955.
On the contrary, the option of opposition forces cooperating with the PLD seems bleak, since although the 57% of the PLD candidates are open to forming a coalition with the main rival formation, the Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC) and other groups on the same side have recently expressed their refusal to participate in Ishiba’s cabinet.
That the PLD was a few seats away from obtaining a simple majority without joining another party would weaken both at the national level and within the party the leadership of Ishiba, inaugurated prime minister on October 1, with one of the lowest popularity ratings for a politician who is new to office, after internal elections of the party.
Analysts expect that the opposition PDC, the second force Japanese parliamentarian, gains ground in Sunday’s elections, but not enough to change the government.
In the last four general elections, participation has remained below 50%a level to which this Sunday’s is also expected to fall.
Approximately 16.43 million people (15.77% of the total voters) voted early until the 25th, which represents 190,000 voters or one 1.15% less than in the 2021 elections.
The Japanese will have time to vote until 20.00 local time (11.00 GMT), when the polls will close and the votes will be counted.
More than 1,300 candidates fight on Sunday for 465 seats289 elected by single-member majority vote in electoral districts with a single seat and 176, under proportional representation to each party (d’Hondt system) in 11 regional constituencies that group blocks of districts.
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