Analysis: Japan coalition girds for crucial election fightーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
And for more on the upper house election, I spoke earlier with NHK’s world’s political commentator Kikuyama. What’s the key benchmark for victory and what are Ishiba’s goals? The focus is on whether the ruling coalition can keep its majority in the upper house. Ishiba has said uh we will do everything we can to secure uh majority combined with the uncontested seats. The key number is 50. That’s what the ruling parties must win to keep their majority because they have other seats that aren’t being fought this time. This means they can lose up to 16 seats and still maintain an overall majority. But there’s been criticism from both the opposition and from inside the main ruling LDP that this goal is too low. Senior members of the ruling parties are worried after the LDP and KATO both lost seats in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election last month. So what are the main issues? Well, uh, one of the crucial topics is tariff negotiations with the United States. Uh, Ishiba’s top negotiator has been to the US seven times, but they haven’t clinched a comprehensive agreement. President Trump has indicated his administration could impose levies of 30 or 35% on Japanese products. So another issue is inflation fight policy. The biggest difference here is uh over direct payments versus cutting the consumption tax. The ruling coalition says cash handouts are quicker and more effective. The rolling block has taken a cautious stance on cutting the consumption tax setting its role in funding social security and that time consuming legal procedures needed for any change. But most of the opposition is emphasizing tax cuts amid a wave of rising food prices hitting household budgets. May uh many are calling for lowering or abolishing the consumption tax to ease the burden on consumers. So how significant is this election and what could it bring to potentially bring to Japanese politics? Right. Uh Ishiba’s government was weakened after losing its majority and a more powerful lower house last year. If the ro uh ruling coalition fails to hold on to upper house minority u majority this time it will become extremely difficult for him to manage his administration. So this election carries unusual weight. Normally lower house elections are considered a choice of government while upper house elections are viewed as a midterm evaluation of the sitting administration. But this time the dynamics are different. Voices from both the ruling and opposition camps suggest that this upper house election is a de facto referendum on the yes Ishiba government.
Campaigning for the Upper House election is officially underway in Japan. NHK World’s Kikuyama Kengo explains why this election is significant and what it could mean for Prime Minister Ishiba and the country.
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