Japan PM Kishida's coalition keeps majority with fewer seats

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s coalition kept a comfortable majority in a parliamentary election despite losing some seats

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s coalition kept a comfortable majority in Sunday's parliamentary election despite losing some seats as his weeks-old government grapples with a coronavirus-battered economy and regional security challenges.

Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito together won 293 seats, well above the majority of 233 in the 465-member lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Diet, where they previously had 305 seats.

The LDP lost 15 seats from its pre-election share, but the 261 seats it won are “an absolute majority” — a level that allows the party and its ruling bloc to control all parliamentary committees and easily ram through legislation.

The LDP losses in single constituencies included those held by influential party members, such as secretary general Akira Amari, who was stung by a past bribery scandal. Amari offered to resign even though he eventually secured his seat in proportional representation.