Japanese voters went to the polls on Sunday in a closely disputed election in the middle of public frustration in the face of prices rise and the imminent threat of American prices.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in power and its Junior Komeito coalition partner must obtain 50 seats combined to keep a global majority in the upper room, but the last survey shows that they could fail.
This election arrives at a difficult time for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his power coalition while US President Donald Trump puts pressure on Tokyo during tense tariff negotiations.
The Massive Automobile Industry of Japan, which represents eight percent of the country’s jobs, is in shock from the painful samples already in place.
Low data on exports last week, fears have raised fears that the world’s fourth economy to advance a technical recession.
Although Ishiba obtained a first meeting with Trump in February and sent his commercial envoy to Washington seven times, no agreement has been concluded.
For voters, the fight against price increase is also a central concern.
The cost of rice, a basic food for Japanese households, has almost doubled since last year.
In recent months, the government has had to exploit its emergency stocks to combat the shortage.
Since the election of Lower House of last year, which has seen the coalition below a majority, the LDP has not been able to regain the confidence of unhappy voters of stagnant wages and incessant inflation.
Meanwhile, the Populist Party Sanseito, which used social media to attract younger voters, has increased in popularity.
Surveys show that its slogan “First First” has hit the sensitive string with certain conservatives, although its hard position on foreigners has sparked criticism.
The party wants “stricter rules and limits” of immigration, opposes policies of “globalism” and “radical” and wants to rethink decarbonization and vaccines.
If the Ishiba’s power coalition did not guarantee 50 seats, it will have lost the majority in the two chambers of Parliament, which could threaten its leadership and lead to political instability.
The center-right party of Ishiba has ruled Japan almost permanently since 1955, but with frequent leader changes.
The last time the LDP and Komeito failed to win a majority in the upper room, it was in 2010, having already fallen below the threshold in 2007.
This was followed by a rare change of government in 2009, when the Democratic Party of Japan, now disappeared, ruled for three years.
