Japan prepares for Lower House election campaign

On October 10, Japan officially announced a 12-day campaign for the Lower House election.

Candidates will apply for 465 seats in the House of Representatives, including 289 single-seat constituencies and 176 proportional representation seats. Each voter will be given two ballots, one for choosing a candidate and one for choosing their party.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (second from right) and Tokyo Governor Koike (standing to Abe's left) during a televised debate ahead of the Lower House election. Photo: EPA

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to resign if the ruling coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito Party fails to achieve a majority of at least 233 seats.

Analysts say the election will be a battle between three main rivals: the ruling coalition, Tokyo Governor Koike's Party of Hope, and opposition factions led by former leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

The ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party has an advantage as the Party of Hope was only recently formed while the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, has disbanded.

Many conservative members of the party registered as candidates under the name Party of Hope, while the rest formed a new party called the Constitutional Democratic Party led by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

The dissolution of the House of Representatives to hold an early general election is considered a calculated move by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. With the voter support rate increasing, along with the opposition not being prepared, many observers believe that the ruling coalition can win an overwhelming majority of seats after this House of Representatives election./.

According to VOV