Japan's Uncertain Future As Coalition Majority In Doubt

Economic fallout feared as country loses its political stability

- SAKURA MURAKAMI

Japan’s ruling coalition is set to lose its parliamentary majority, exit polls for yesterday’s general election suggested, raising uncertainty over the make-up of the government of the world’s fourth-largest economy.

A poll by public broadcaster NHK showed prime minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan for almost all of its post-war history, and junior coalition partner Komeito were set to win between 174 and 254 of the 465 seats in the lower house of Japan’s parliament.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) was predicted to win 128 to 191 seats.

The outcome may force parties into fractious power-sharing deals to rule, potentially ushering in political instability as the country faces economic headwinds and an increasingly tense security environment in East Asia. The election comes nine days before voters in the United States – Japan’s closest ally – head to the polls in another unpredictable election.