Japan’s ruling coalition suffered a major setback in the upper house election on July 11, failing not only to gain an overall majority in the House of Councillors but also to secure more seats than its main opposite party.
Election results announced on July 12 showed that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won 44 seats, lost 10 seats while its coalition partner People’s New Party (PNP) failed to retain its three seats contested in this election.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 51 seats compared with the 38 it had heading into the election, said the Kyodo News.
With the result, the coalition between the DPJ and PNP has only 110 seats in the House of Councillors while opposition parties hold the majority or 132 seats. The DPJ now faces the challenge of finding new allies to secure a majority to pass bills smoothly through the upper chamber.
Speaking at a press conference after the announcement of election results, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan , who leads the DPJ, said his reference to the consumption tax during the campaign was careless and that led to the electoral setback.
However, according to the Kyodo News, Kan said he will stay in office and seek cooperation from other parties in an attempt to avoid gridlock.
This was the first national election since the DPJ came to power after winning a landslide in the lower house election in August.
In this election, a total of 437 candidates competed for a total of 121 seats, or half of the 242 seats in the upper chamber./.
Election results announced on July 12 showed that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won 44 seats, lost 10 seats while its coalition partner People’s New Party (PNP) failed to retain its three seats contested in this election.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 51 seats compared with the 38 it had heading into the election, said the Kyodo News.
With the result, the coalition between the DPJ and PNP has only 110 seats in the House of Councillors while opposition parties hold the majority or 132 seats. The DPJ now faces the challenge of finding new allies to secure a majority to pass bills smoothly through the upper chamber.
Speaking at a press conference after the announcement of election results, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan , who leads the DPJ, said his reference to the consumption tax during the campaign was careless and that led to the electoral setback.
However, according to the Kyodo News, Kan said he will stay in office and seek cooperation from other parties in an attempt to avoid gridlock.
This was the first national election since the DPJ came to power after winning a landslide in the lower house election in August.
In this election, a total of 437 candidates competed for a total of 121 seats, or half of the 242 seats in the upper chamber./.
