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TOKYO/NARA, Japan, July 10 (Reuters) – Japan’s conservative coalition government elevated its majority in the upper house of parliament in an election on Sunday, two days after the assassination of dominant politician and power broker Shinzo Abe.

Abe, ふじみ野市議会議員選挙 Japan’s longest-serving fashionable chief, was gunned down on Friday during a campaign speech within the western city of Nara in a killing that stunned a rustic the place political violence and gun crime are rare. learn extra

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Occasion (LDP), of which Abe remained an influential lawmaker, and its junior partner Komeito won 76 of the 125 seats contested in the chamber, from 69 previously, according to an exit poll by public broadcaster NHK.

The LDP received sixty three seats, up from 55, to win a majority of the contested seats, however not sufficient to take a single majority general.

Elections for parliament’s less highly effective upper home are usually a referendum on the sitting authorities. Change of authorities was not at stake, as that is decided by the decrease house.

But the strong showing may assist Kishida consolidate his rule as he seems to steer Japan’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, keep a lid on rising shopper prices, and bolster defence at a time of tension with its powerful neighbour China.

Final results are due on Monday afternoon.

“It is important we had been in a position to tug this election together at a time violence was shaking the foundations of the election,” Kishida, an Abe protege, mentioned after the exit poll.

“Proper now, as we face points including the coronavirus, Ukraine, and inflation, solidarity within the federal government and coalition parties is important,” he added.

The social gathering held a second of silence for Abe at its Tokyo headquarters as members waited for outcomes to are available.

The features might allow Kishida to revise Japan’s pacifist structure, a dream Abe never achieved.

Parties open to revising the structure maintained their two-thirds majority within the upper home.

Kishida could transfer cautiously on constitutional change, however the apparent victory regarded set to pave the way for more defence spending, a key LDP election promise, said Robert Ward of the Worldwide Institute of Strategic Research.

Kishida “now has a green gentle for this”, Ward said.

[1/6] Candidates’ posters for the Upper Home election are displayed outdoors a polling station in Tokyo, Japan July 10, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Requested about constitutional revision on Sunday night, Kishida mentioned he would concentrate on putting collectively a bill to be discussed in parliament.

Individuals near Kishida have said his workforce also desires to progressively section out “Abenomics”, Japan’s signature economic policy of government spending and monetary stimulus named after the ex-premier who began the experiment almost a decade in the past. learn more

Kishida might now have the political capital to vary course, analysts said, and can also be likely to have three years to drive by legislation earlier than one other election needs to be held.

“Kishida may have extra leeway in pursuing policies primarily based on his ideas, though lawmakers who were close to Abe may rally and extra vocally name for sustaining Abenomics,” stated Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

THE ABE Impact

Shigenobu Tamura, a political analyst and former LDP staffer, said Abe’s assassination could have bolstered the ruling occasion’s assist in “hotly contested districts”.

Different analysts stated the exit poll was broadly in line with pre-election surveys. Voter turnout was expected to rise to 51.58% from 48.8% on the final upper house election three years ago, Kyodo information company estimated.