Fumio Kishida’s ruling party wins majority in Japanese elections

Kishida’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) emerged with fewer seats in the powerful lower house than it won in the last election in 2017. But the LDP maintained its single-party majority in a big victory for Kishida, who The usually splintered opposition was united, with only one party – including the widely shunned Japanese Communist Party – facing off against the coalition in most districts.Some voters — like Yoshihiko Suzuki, who voted for the main opposition candidate in his district and the Communists in proportional representation — hoped the poll might teach the LDP a lesson.Suzuki, 68 and retired, said the LDP’s years in power made it complacent and arrogant, underscored by a series of money and cronyism scandals.”I hope this election comes as a wakeup call for them,” he said. “If it does, the LDP will become a better party, considering the number of talented lawmakers they’ve got.”