(MENAFN- IANS)
Tokyo, Nov 1 (IANS) Japan's ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito is certain to retain a majority of the lower house seats following Sunday's general election, public broadcaster NHK projected.
In the ongoing ballot counting, the LDP has secured 234 seats so far, taking a majority of the lower house on its own, with its partner Komeito occupying 27 seats so far.
The ruling LDP previously held 276 seats on its own before the general election. Led by Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida, the party is set to lose a large number of seats to opposition parties, reflecting that he may have failed to win strong support for his Covid-19, economic and national security policies, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kishida, who has said he will claim victory if the ruling coalition retains a majority, said the outcome gives him "a valuable public mandate" to govern.
Regarding the LDP's loss of seats, Kishida said on Sunday that he will "analyze the results and firmly accept them".
The general election is the first major test for Kishida since he took office on October 4. The new PM has pledged to stimulate economic growth while redistributing more economic benefits to the middle class under his vision of "new capitalism".
Under his vision, the government plans to secure more hospital beds for Covid-19 patients as a preparation for a possible sixth wave of infections.
Kishida has also said the government will propose a stimulus package within the year to support people and businesses stricken by the pandemic.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties have claimed that the government has failed its task of Covid-19 response and that the Abenomics policy upheld by the ruling LDP widened the country's wealth gap as the policy only promoted corporate earnings and share prices but failed to achieve higher wages.
The opposition parties have called for lowering the consumption tax to take off some pressure on low- and middle-class households, allow married couples to take different surnames and recognize same-sex marriage.
The opposition party leaders said on Sunday that their strategy of coordinating candidates to counter the ruling bloc bore fruit in the lower house election.
Five opposition parties -- the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), the Democratic Party for the People, the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi -- backed the same candidates in over 70 per cent of the 289 constituency contests.
Among the opposition bloc, the CDPJ is projected to secure more seats than before the election.
Voting of the country's general election finished in the evening with polling stations closing nationwide at 8 p.m. local time, and ballots counting is expected to last late into the evening, with the final result depending on the battleground constituencies where candidates were neck-and-neck.
--IANS
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