Tokyo Japan –
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling party, hit by a sprawling illicit funds scandal, appeared to have lost all three seats in Sunday’s parliamentary by-election, according to media exit polls and preliminary results.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s defeat is seen as punishment to voters for its links to a corruption saga that erupted last year and has undermined Kishida’s leadership. However, his party’s loss of power is unlikely due to the fractured opposition.
“The results were extremely serious,” LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters in Tokyo. “We humbly accept the serious results and will do everything we can to regain the public’s trust as we continue our efforts to reform and address the challenges.”
The main opposition party, the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), is likely to win all three seats in Shimane, Nagasaki and Tokyo, according to exit polls conducted by national television NHK, Kyodo News and others. media.
CPDJ leader Kenta Izumi said the by-election was about political reforms. “There are many voters across the country who also want to show (similar) views,” he said, adding that he will seek early national elections if the ruling party’s reforms are too slow.
The defeat in Shimane Prefecture was especially shocking for the ruling party and could undermine Kishida’s influence, as LDP lawmakers could try to overthrow him to put a new face on for the upcoming general election. Such a move would dash Kishida’s hopes of running in the party’s presidential race in September for another three-year term. He can call elections at any time before the current lower house term expires in October 2025.
Kishida has struggled with falling support ratings since the corruption scandal broke last year. He has removed several cabinet ministers and others from party executive positions, held internal hearings and drafted reform measures, but support ratings for his government have fallen to around 20 percent.
The scandal centers on undeclared political funds raised through the sale of tickets to party events. This led to 10 people (lawmakers and their aides) being charged in January.
More than 80 ruling party lawmakers, most of them from a major faction of the party previously led by slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have acknowledged failing to declare funds in a possible violation of the Political Funds Control Law. Money received from this long-standing practice allegedly went into uncontrolled slush funds.
In Sunday’s by-elections, the LDP did not field its own candidates in the Tokyo and Nagasaki districts due to apparent low support for the party. Instead, he focused on defending the Shimane district seat left vacant by the death of former LDP House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, who was also linked to a series of alleged irregularities, including illicit funds.
Akiko Kamei, a CDPJ candidate who defeated former Finance Ministry bureaucrat Norimasa Nishikori of the LDP, said her victory in Shimane, known as a “conservative kingdom,” sent a “great message” to Kishida.
“I think voters’ anger over the LDP slush fund problem and the lack of improvement in daily life in the prefecture became support for me,” he said.
Final results are expected early Monday.