Voting Starts in General Election in Japan

Tokyo, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)–Voting started across Japan in Sunday’s House of Representatives election, in which Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seeks a public mandate after her Liberal Democratic Party switched its coalition partner. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. as many parts of the country were hit by snowfall. Snow fell even in central Tokyo. Vote counting will begin as soon as balloting ends at 8 p.m. The general election for the all-important lower chamber of parliament is the first national election since the LDP formed a coalition with the Japan Innovation Party last October after Komeito ditched its 26-year partnership with the LDP. To counter the move, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito launched the Centrist Reform Alliance to bring together their Lower House members. Key election issues were economic measures such as consumption tax reduction, steps to combat persisting inflation, and policies on foreign nationals. The focus is whether the LDP-JIP coalition will secure a majority of at least 233 seats. In the first Lower House poll since October 2024, 1,284 candidates vie for the chamber’s 465 seats–289 for single-seat constituencies and 176 under the proportional representation system. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]