Japan ruling bloc suffers rare losses in by-elections

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc suffered two rare losses in by-elections in an apparent warning from voters not to get complacent ahead of a national election for parliament’s upper house later this year.

Sunday’s defeats in a lower house by-election in Osaka and Okinawa were the first such losses since Abe returned to office in December 2012, other than one uncontested poll.

“Each Liberal Democratic Party member must take the results to heart and buckle down,” Abe told reporters yesterday morning.

The defeats come after Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada resigned a year before the Tokyo Games for remarks that offended victims of the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

A vice-transport minister also quit over a separate gaffe.

“The Cabinet support rate is maintaining a certain level, but if they do not eradicate laxity and conceit, the upper house election will be a difficult fight,” said the conservative Yomiuri newspaper.

Support for Abe’s Cabinet was at 47% in a survey by public broadcaster NHK released this month, up five points from last month.

Speculation suggests Abe will call a snap lower house election in tandem with the upper house poll, possibly after announcing the postponement of a sales tax hike scheduled for October.

Such a “double election” might help take advantage of weakness among the fragmented opposition parties but could also force the opposition to unite. — Reuters