Polling stations opened at 7:00am local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday in a snap election described by Abe as a referendum on his economic policies.
Opinion polls predict his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito will sweep the ballot, all but unhindered by an unprepared and underwhelming opposition.
Abe, who won a landslide victory two years ago, is seeking a greater mandate for his "Abenomics" policies in the country's lower house of parliament.
"I have been pushing for Abenomics, the policies designed to create jobs and raise salaries," Abe told hundreds of voters in Tokyo's neon-lit Akihabara electronics district on the eve of the election.
"Japan can be much richer," Abe said firmly in his last stump speech, sporting a white windbreaker. "Please let our coalition have power."
Early opinion polls have shown the premier's coalition is likely to secure more than 300 of the 475 contested seats, giving them the super-majority they need in the powerful lower house to force through legislation.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, whose haphazard governance over the three years until 2012 left voters cold, could add a couple of dozen more seats to its tally of 62, but will remain ineffective, according to the surveys.
Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Tokyo, said the election had been met with confusion rather than enthusiasm.
"A poll showed around 63 percent of voters were baffled as why this election had to take place, their has been criticism of its cost, and the delays it will cause to government business," Fawcett said.....................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2014/12/japan-votes-with-abe-set-super-majority-20141213232733114428.html
14/12/14
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Media exit polls in Japan point to a commanding victory for Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition in Sunday's elections...
ReplyDeleteThe vote was dubbed a referendum on the incumbent prime minister's reflationary recipe for reviving Japan's economy.
The polls show the coalition - Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito - winning a two-thirds majority in the 475-seat lower house, but with the LDP falling short of such a "super-majority" on its own.
Abe, 60, called the election two years early in order to obtain a fresh mandate for his "Abenomics" strategy of hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms after his decision to put off an unpopular sales tax rise next year for fear it would derail a recovery already in doubt.
Abe could use the big win - which appears to have come on the back of rock-bottom turnout - to push ahead with painful economic reforms, analysts say, but might instead turn more attention to his conservative agenda that includes revising Japan's pacifist constitution to ease limits on the military.
"I have been pushing for Abenomics, the policies designed to create jobs and raise salaries," Abe told voters in Tokyo's neon-lit Akihabara electronics district on the eve of the election.
"Japan can be much richer. Please let our coalition have power."...............http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2014/12/polls-big-election-victory-japan-abe-20141214111611433762.html
14/12/14