Japan s ruling coalition retains a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives following Sunday s general election, giving Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a mandate to implement his COVID-19, economic and national security agenda.
In the gloom of a Lower House election post-mortem, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan was forced to ponder whether joining forces with the Japanese Communist Party was the right thing to do.
The fielding of unified candidates led to some close races and two major upsets, but political differences ultimately undermined the tie-up in the eyes of voters.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided to appoint Toshimitsu Motegi as secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to replace Akira Amari, who offered to resign from the post following an election loss, sources said.