Japan votes in test for new PM Kishida, political stability

Japanese voters decide on Sunday whether to endorse the conservative government or to weaken Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and possibly return the world's third-largest economy to a period of political uncertainty.The vote is a test for Kishida, who called the election soon after taking the top post this month, and for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been battered by its perceived mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.Following a record wave of infections that pushed the Tokyo Olympics behind closed doors, cases have now plummeted and most restrictions have been lifted.Kishida, 64, has pledged to issue a fresh stimulus package worth tens of trillions of yen to counter the impact of the pandemic on the world's third-largest economy.He has also outlined plans to distribute wealth more fairly under a so-called "new capitalism," although details so far remain vague.

The LDP is on the brink of losing its sole majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time since 2009, opinion polls show, although its coalition with junior partner Komeito is forecast to remain in control.The biggest opposition group, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is expected to gain seats but not come near toppling Kishida's coalition.Still, a big loss of LDP seats could lead to party infighting, returning Japan to an era of short-lived administrations that diminished its global stature, until Shinzo Abe helmed the country for a record eight years to September 2020.Uncertainty is high, with the Nikkei newspaper estimating 40 percent of single-seat districts have close races and recent polls showing some 40 percent of voters undecided.Voting ends at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), with projected results likely to come soon afterward from media exit polls.Across Japan, 1,051 candidates are standing for election to parliament's lower house.

Kishida's publicly stated goal is for his coalition to keep a majority, at least 233 seats, of the 465 in the lower house. Before the election, the coalition had a commanding two-thirds majority of 305, with the LDP holding 276.Investors and political watchers are focused on whether the LDP – in power for all but brief spells since it was formed in 1955 – can keep its majority as a single party. Losing that would erode Kishida's power base in the factional LDP and the party's standing against the dovish Komeito.The usually splintered opposition is united, arranging for only one party – including the widely shunned Communist – to face off against the coalition in most districts.But the opposition has failed to capture the hearts of voters, with only 8 percent supporting the Constitutional Democrats while 39 percent back the LDP, according to a poll last week by public broadcaster NHK.

(CGTN)