Senate elections in the shadow of Shinzo Abe's assassination in Japan
Eva Deschamps / July 10, 2022
Japanese voters are voting this Sunday, July 10, 2022, to renew half of the upper house of parliament, an election largely overshadowed by the assassination two days earlier of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election rally in Nara (western Japan).
Current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose Liberal Democratic Party (LDP, nationalist right) was widely favoured in the polls, denounced the barbaric attack against his former mentor, insisting on the importance of defending free and fair elections, which are the foundation of democracy.
The shooting of Mr. Abe, one of Japan's best-known politicians, was deeply shocking and emotional both in Japan and abroad, and messages of condolence poured in from around the world, including from China and South Korea, with whom Japan has often had stormy relations.
After being briefly suspended by the various parties on the news of the attack on the former prime minister, the election campaign resumed on Saturday with increased security measures, while the Nara police acknowledged undeniable flaws in those surrounding Mr. Abe's rally.
It was dominated by local concerns, including price increases and risks to electricity supply, as the heat wave that has affected Japan since late June raises fears of a power shortage.
The ruling coalition of Mr. Kishida's 64-year-old Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its ally Komeito is projected to win more than 70 of the 125 seats up for election on Sunday (the Senate has a total of 248 seats, half of which are renewed every three years).
If the centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) fails to present an attractive alternative, the polls indicate that it risks losing some of the 45 seats it currently holds and its position as the main opposition force.
In a country often criticized for the lack of female representation in its institutions and corporate leadership, a record 33% of the 545 candidates on Sunday were women.