Japan went to polls Sunday to elect about half of the seats of parliament's Upper House in which the prime minister's ruling party hopes to re-validate its wide majority.

Polling stations opened across most of the Japanese archipelago at 8am Sunday and will close at 8pm. </s> Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political coalition has won the partial legislative election to the upper house of Parliament, though it failed to secure the number of seats needed to push forward the constitutional reform it was hoping for, according to results released on Monday.

Japanese citizens had voted on Sunday to elect half of the House of Councillors, whose member serve for six-year terms and have fewer legislative functions than members of the House of Representatives, of which Abe is a member.

The result leaves Abe with a clear majority in both houses of Parliament, following a landslide win in the lower house in 2017. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 71 of the 124 seats in the 245-member House of Councillors in the Sunday polls, according to public broadcaster NHK.

However, he failed to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution — a signature goal for which Abe has set a 2020 deadline.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the voters,” Abe said in a press conference on Monday. “This is a choice about the political stability and chaos. We asked the voters to choose between these two options and many people listened to our speeches on the streets.

“In this election, the constitutional amendment was also a big issue – it will be finally determined by the national referendum,” Abe said, calling the two-thirds requirement “a very tall order”.

“The people of Japan will have a final say on this matter.”

Abe’s goal is to amend the Constitution – which was approved after World War II – to change its pacifist character so that the country’s Self-Defence Forces can play a more active role. The amendment must be approved by both houses and put to a referendum.

He said he wanted to demonstrate his own leadership to be able to discuss the reform and make a draft that can secure two-thirds of the votes between the ruling and opposition legislators.

Voter turnout on Sunday was the second-lowest since the end of World War II, as only 48.8 per cent of the electoral census went to the polls, slightly higher than the record low of 44.52 per cent turnout in the 1995 elections. </s> The Japanese prime minister's political coalition on Monday won the partial legislative elections to the upper house of parliament, though it failed to secure the number of seats needed to push forward the constitutional reform it was hoping for, according to results released Monday.

Japanese citizens had voted Sunday to elect half of the House of Councillors, whose member serve for six-year terms and have fewer legislative functions than members of the House of Representatives, of which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a member. </s> July 22 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a victory Monday as his Liberal Democratic Party took a clear majority of seats in Japan's upper-chamber House of Councillors.

Despite the victory, the party fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to keep a major campaign pledge to amend the Japanese Constitution to clarify its Self-Defense Forces status in Article 9 of its supreme law. Abe said while the party stance has not changed, it's willing to be "flexible."

The vote positions Abe to become Japan's longest-serving prime minister. The Liberal Democratic Party captured 71 seats in Sunday's election and, with its junior partner Komeito, controls 141 seats.

"Although we have provided a basis for debate, which we believe is the best but we want to have flexible discussions without sticking to our proposal," Abe said, dismissing the party's falling short of a two-thirds majority.

"Many said it would be extremely difficult to gain a majority when advocating tax hikes, but we have the public's understanding. This upper house election was not about winning two-thirds of the seats, it was about maintaining stability. We achieved that goal."

Voter turnout for the House of Councillor's election was well below its 2016 election tally. Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said 49 percent of eligible voters participated, compared to 55 percent in 2016. Sunday marked the first time since 1995 that fewer than 50 percent voted in an upper house election. </s> (UPDATED) Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition retains its majority in the upper house in Sunday's vote for around the half the seats in the chamber, but falls short of securing a two-thirds majority in favor of revising the constitution

TOKYO, Japan (UPDATED) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, July 22, pledged to keep alive his plans to amend the country's pacifist constitution, despite failing to secure a "supermajority" in upper house elections.

His ruling coalition retained its majority in the upper house in Sunday's vote for around the half the seats in the chamber, but fell short of securing a two-thirds majority in favour of revising the constitution.

"The hurdle of two thirds in both the lower and upper houses is extremely high," Abe told a news conference at his party headquarters.

"I want to produce a reform proposal that can be agreed upon by two thirds beyond the borders of the ruling and opposition camps," he said.

Abe has long harbored dreams of revising the constitution, which prohibits the country from waging war and maintaining a military.

But public support for revising the document is low and there is discomfort with the idea even among the ruling coalition.

Experts said that since many within Abe's coalition were already uneasy about the plans, the failure to secure a supermajority was unlikely to change the prime minister's calculations significantly.

"Losing the supermajority is not necessarily a major setback for Abe," wrote analyst Tobias Harris of the Teneo consultancy group in a note.

"Instead, by leading the ruling coalition to another national election victory – his sixth in his nearly 7 years as LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) leader – Abe has cemented his status atop Japan's political system," Harris added.

Abe's LDP and its coalition partner Komeito took 71 of the 124 seats up for grabs in Sunday's vote, accounting for about half of the upper chamber.

The two parties already control 70 seats in the other half of the 245-seat chamber that was not being contested.

Analysts said Abe's coalition benefitted from a weak opposition, and voter turnout underscored apathy among the electorate, falling below 50% for the first time since a 1995 upper house election.

Abe's win is likely however to shore up his support ahead of a controversial hike of the consumption tax to 10 percent later this year, as well as trade negotiations with Washington.

The outcome of Sunday's election means Abe remains on track to become the country's longest-serving prime minister later this year. – Rappler.com </s> MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st July, 2019) Japanese voters will cast their ballots for 124 of the 245 seats in the country's upper house, the House of Councilors, on Sunday with the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito party projected to ensure a solid victory.

According to a poll by the Nikkei newspaper, Shinzo Abe's LDP and its coalition partner Komeito are projected to secure together 63 seats out of 124, and therefore will maintain the majority in the upper chamber.

Similarly, the latest poll by the Kyodo news agency carried out on July 14-16 showed that popular support for the LDP stood at 33.8 percent and for Komeito - at 5.1 percent, while the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party ranked second with 9.1 percent and other parties having less than 5 percent. Yet, nearly 30 percent of respondents said that they do not have any party they support, which still change the situation.

Nevertheless, Abe's coalition appears to be on track to secure a win in the elections due to the lack of any serious opponents, Purnendra Jain, a professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide, noted in his comments to Sputnik.

"Abe's opponents are extremely weak and there is no immediate political challenge to his party and to his leadership," Jain said.

The expert stressed Abe's success in assuring voters of having firm hand in foreign policy - not only with the nation's main ally, the United States, but also with North Korea on the abduction issue, South Korea on trade spat and war-time grievances, and Russia on the territorial dispute.

"Japanese voters cannot see any alternative to the LDP and to Abe at this stage," Jain said.

Professor Jeffrey Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at the Temple University, Japan Campus, also pointed out that Abe's main trump card was not his qualities or policies, but rather a lack of alternative among the opposition parties.

"There is great apathy about this upper house election ... Turnout will be low," he suggested in his comments to Sputnik, noting that it would only benefit the LDP.

Despite the apathy toward the upcoming vote, it might enable Abe to move forward with his long-held ambition to revise Japan's post-war pacifist constitution that bans country from maintaining an army and participating in overseas military operations. To do so he has to ensure a two-thirds majority of parties supporting the constitutional amendment. Yet, even this might not be enough for Abe to go through with his plan, Jain noted.

"If it is passed in both houses, the key would be whether Japanese voters are ready to endorse it in a national referendum. The signs are mixed," the expert said.

Abe's ambitious goal to turn Japan into a "normal country," as pro-amendment supporters put it, might be even challenged even with the prime minister's coalition, Kingston suggested.

"Almost nobody prioritizes constitutional revision - even the leader of Komeito, the main coalition partner, says it's not necessary, so Abe will have an uphill struggle. Even those who support say they don't want it to happen under Abe ... Major trust deficit," he stressed.

Yet, according to Professor Jain of the University of Adelaide, the victory itself would be an important mandate for Abe to continue his policies, taking into account that he himself and his entourage had been mired in a string of scandals recently.

"This is the first national election in the Reiwa era. A win by the LDP would endorse confidence in the party and Abe as its Prime Minister. Since Abe has been under criticism for his handling of the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, pension funds and increasing the consumption tax from 8 percent to 10 percent from October, victory of the LDP will give Abe some political space to move ahead with his reform agenda, including opening up the economy and Japan's doors to more foreign workers and immigrants," the expert stressed.

In the past couple of years, Abe's government faced major public discontent over cronyism scandals. It was alleged that Abe along with his wife and Finance Minister Taro Aso were involved in manipulating the sales of public land for the Moritomo Gakuen private school at artificially lowered prices, while the Japanese prime minister was also believed to give preferential treatment to the Kake Gakuen veterinary school project linked to his close friend Kotaro Kake.

Furthermore, Abe's government has been at the center of a scandal over the disclosure of activity logs of Japanese troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2009, the existence of which had earlier been denied by the Japanese Defense Ministry. Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada subsequently resigned over the scandal.

Abe did not only manage to secure a majority in a snap vote to the lower chamber in 2017 immediately after the scandals erupted, but also get reelected as the LDP president for the third term in September last year, therefore retaining his position as the country's prime minister.
Japanese citizens head to the polls to elect one half of the members of the country's House of Councillors.