Japan's ruling coalition to lose majority in lower house: exit poll

Following Japan's general election on Sunday, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner Komeito will lose their lower house majority for the first time in 15 years, according to projections by public broadcaster NHK, said Xinhua.

NHK forecasts showed that the opposition parties are projected to win more than half of the 465 lower house seats, meaning that the ruling bloc is certain to fall short of the 233-seat threshold needed for a simple majority in the House of Representatives, the more powerful lower chamber of parliament.

As of 1:40 a.m. local time on Monday, exit polls showed that the opposition had won 234 seats, with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) of Japan gaining 143 seats, while the LDP and Komeito have so far secured 207.

The last time the coalition lost a majority was in 2009. The LDP may reinstate some candidates who have secured seats as independents. The party did not endorse them in light of the fundraising scandal, NHK said.

The CDP is on course to make significant gains and is projected to secure between 128 and 191 seats, up from its pre-election count of 98 seats, according to NHK.

Yoshihiko Noda, head of the CDP, hailed the electorate's "good response" as they gave his party the best lower house election result in its seven-year history.

In a television program, Noda also said the continuation of a government headed by the ruling LDP and Komeito would be "unacceptable."

Among the night's big winners was also the Democratic Party for the People, which projections suggest could significantly boost its seat number from the seven it had before the poll.

This increase would bolster the opposition's influence in the Diet chamber and could affect the ruling coalition's ability to pass legislation smoothly, NHK said.

Projected seat numbers for the ruling LDP range from 153 to 219, while Komeito is expected to win between 21 and 35 seats.

Before the lower house was dissolved on Oct. 9, the LDP had 247 seats, enough for a majority on its own, while Komeito had 32.

Since the 2012 election, when the LDP returned to power after being ousted in 2009, it has won a majority in the 465-seat lower house on its own in four consecutive elections.

Voting of the lower house election finished Sunday evening with polling stations closing nationwide at 8 p.m. local time, and ballot counting is expected to last till Monday morning.

With 465 seats up for grabs, a total of 1,344 candidates ran in the country's 50th House of Representatives election, more than the 1,051 in the last such election in 2021.