Ruling Camp's Majority Focus of Japan Upper House Election

   Tokyo, June 25 (Jiji Press)--The focus of the July 20 election for the House of Councillors is whether the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, will maintain their majority in the upper chamber of Japan's parliament.
   As this hinges largely on the outcome of battles in 32 prefectural constituencies where one seat each is up for grabs, attention will be on whether opposition parties can agree on a single candidate for a toe-to-toe contest with the candidate backed by the ruling parties.
   On Monday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the LDP, said, "We'll do our best to secure the (Upper House) majority, including the seats not contested this time."
   Touching on the LDP's historic rout in Sunday's election for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly, Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said at a party meeting Tuesday, "We hope to take advantage of this opportunity to help clinch a victory in the Upper House election."
   As the LDP-Komeito coalition holds 75 uncontested seats, an additional 50 seats will be the "absolute defense line" in order to maintain an Upper House majority of at least 125 seats, a ruling camp official said.

(2025/06/25-09:00)

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