Abe set for huge loss in Tokyo assembly polls
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative party was set for a major defeat in the Tokyo assembly election on Sunday, exit polls showed, as he struggles with a series of setbacks and scandals that have driven down his popularity at the national level.
Former TV anchorwoman Yuriko Koike, who was elected the city’s governor in a landslide last year, was expected to seize a comfortable majority of the 127seat Tokyo assembly, which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party previously controlled but is now bracing for a historic defeat.
While the vote is local, it serves as an important indicator of national political sentiment.
“The LDP set for serious defeat,” and may reduce its seats to a historic low, national broadcaster NHK said. The broadcaster projected that a coalition under Koike would win 73 to 85 seats in the chamber.
The LDP was projected to drop from 57 to less than 38 seats -- the lowest number of seats the conservative party had held in the capital since 2009.
Koike, who has also served as defence and environment minister, has approval ratings topping 60% and is already been spoken of by analysts as a potential future prime minister, as Abe battles a cronyism scandal.
Koike has pledged to rein in overspending on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and has upended political convention by allowing television cameras into what were traditionally closed-door city government meeting.
The vote came as Abe, who was elected prime minister in 2012, suffers a series of setbacks and faces loud criticism for ramming controversial and unpopular legislation through parliament.