Abe set to win majority in upper house poll: NHK

Bloomberg

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative ruling coalition and its allies appear set to win a majority in Sunday’s upper house election, an NHK exit poll showed, though it’s unclear if they’ll gain the two-thirds majority allowing him to press ahead with plans to revise the pacifist constitution and assemble a package of fiscal stimulus.
Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party is projected to win 54 to 61 of the 121 seats in contention, according to an exit poll by the public broadcaster. Its junior coalition partner Komeito is set to win 13 to 15 seats, according to NHK.
The coalition, which currently holds 136 seats, appears to be fighting off a challenge from an alliance of opposition parties that had sought to unify the anti-government vote by avoiding running candidates against one another in many districts.
Gaining a super majority in both houses of parliament is the first requirement for changing the U.S.-imposed constitution, which hasn’t been modified since it was enacted in 1947. Any proposed shifts would be subject to a national referendum. While Abe has long advocated constitutional change, and has already reinterpreted pacifist Article 9 to allow Japan’s armed forces to defend other countries in some circumstances, it is unclear when — or even if — he will move to do so. During the campaign, he largely avoided the issue, instead focusing on the economy and the need for continuity amid global uncertainty.
LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura was reported as saying in a television debate last week that there was “zero percent” chance that Article 9 would be revised in the near future. The coalition Komeito party has said it’s open to adding clauses to the constitution though it is cautious about making changes to Article 9.
Opposition lawmakers have accused Abe and the LDP, which includes constitutional change as one of its founding principles, of hiding their real agenda. “A vote for the LDP is a vote to destroy Article 9” Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii said. “Mr. Abe is trying to create a country that fights wars overseas. His first step was the security legislation and he will try to go further with the second step of changing Article 9 of the constitution. We must not allow this.”