Campaigning begins for Japan’s parliamentary election

TOKYO (AP) — Official campaigning for Japan’s Oct. 27 parliamentary election began Tuesday with new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba seeking a mandate for his policies and for reforms after the governing party’s political funds scandal.

More than 1,300 candidates were expected to enter the races for the 465-seat Lower House before registration closes later Tuesday.

Ishiba called the snap election after he took office as prime minister on Oct. 1. As customary for Liberal Democratic Party leaders over the past decade, he was to start his campaign in Fukushima to renew his pledge to support the area’s recovery from the 2011 nuclear disaster.

With the early election, Ishiba is seeking to secure a majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two parliamentary chambers, before the congratulatory mood fades.

The move has been criticized as prioritizing an election rather than policies and for allowing little debate.

A majority for the ruling coalition would be 233 seats between his LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito. Prior to the dissolution, the coalition held 288 seats, including 256 by LDP.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which briefly ruled Japan from 2009-2012, sees the public anger over the LDP funds scandal as a rare chance to gain ground by appealing to conservative swing voters. The liberal-leaning CDPJ is making a conservative shift and now has a centrist leader Yoshihiko Noda, also a former prime minister.

“A leadership change is the biggest political reform,” Noda said.

Political watchers say Japan’s opposition has remained too fractured to push the governing party out of power, which it has held almost without interruption in postwar times.

While support ratings in Kyodo News survey for Ishiba’s new government already dipped from above 50% to 42% just over a week from taking office, LDP was still by far a voter favorite among all political parties.

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Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press