Amidst a lingering political scandal, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faced a fresh setback on Monday as his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost three parliamentary seats in weekend by-elections. Results from local election authorities and media exit polls showed that the LDP lost all three of its seats up for grabs to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the country’s largest opposition. These losses in Tokyo, Shimane, and Nagasaki could threaten Kishida’s position as party leader in a vote later this year. The setbacks come after the LDP was embroiled in a major kickback scandal linked to political fundraising parties. Factions of the LDP have admitted to systematically failing to report incomes from fundraisers for years and sharing the money among their members. LDP secretary general and Kishida’s right-hand man Toshimitsu Motegi acknowledged the seriousness of the situation on Sunday, after exit polls indicated his party’s losses. “We saw very serious consequences,” he said, vowing to “work hard to regain the voters’ trust.” Local media speculated on Monday that the election losses could embolden LDP lawmakers to attempt to oust Kishida when his term as party leader expires in September. The influential Nikkei business daily described the Kishida administration as standing “on the edge of a cliff” after losing all supplementary elections. The top-selling conservative Yomiuri Shimbun highlighted the LDP’s decline, while Kyodo News suggested the loss would undermine Kishida’s political footing and prompt LDP lawmakers to consider removing him from power before the next general election. Despite the setbacks, the LDP-led ruling bloc still controls a comfortable legislative majority, and there is no clear alternative to immediately replace Kishida among LDP members. The LDP entered the special weekend vote on the back foot, with two of the seats vacated by lawmakers forced to step down due to separate scandals. The third seat became vacant following the death of a member of parliament who was also a senior official in a party faction deeply involved in the money scandal.
By-Election Losses Shake Japan’s Kishida Amidst Scandal Fallout
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