TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s ruling coalition is projected to stay in power but the party of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is forecast to take a drubbing in an election on Sunday, public broadcaster NHK said, a blow that could mean political instability in the world’s third-biggest economy.
KOICHI NAKANO, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, SOPHIA UNIVERSITY
“If the projections are correct, then Kishida should be able to continue to govern, or start to govern, but maybe there’ll be a bit of a question mark over his leadership in view of the Upper House election next year. So I guess he’ll still try to have to show that he’s got something that’s different from (his predecessor Yoshihide) Suga.”
“But maybe he’ll emphasise economic security given that it’s being promoted by (Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Akira) Amari. (If Amari loses), it would be quite dramatic. I don’t recall any LDP secretary general losing his seat, at least in the single-member district. It would be a huge blow for the LDP. That would be quite embarrassing.”
AIRO HINO, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, WASEDA UNIVERSITY
“The coalition itself won’t fall apart and the government will remain, but even given this, the number of seats they have is definitely decreasing and this could make managing parliament difficult.”
“If the LDP manages to hang on to a sole majority, though, there probably won’t be that much trouble. But next year, whether Kishida will be able to really hold things together in the run-up to the upper house election will depend on his policies showing results.”
(Reporting by Tokyo Bureau; Editing by William Mallard)
