Japanese ruling party to fare badly in votes for three parliamentary seats

Tokyo: Japan's ruling party is set to lose at least two of three seats in parliamentary by-elections widely seen as a verdict on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and bellwether of national elections later this year, exit polls predicted on Sunday.

The votes, for seats in both the Upper House and the more powerful lower chamber, are the first significant ballots since Suga took power last September. They will fill two seats left open due to scandals and one because of the lawmaker's death from Covid-19 and could affect the timing of Lower House elections that must be held by October. Suga had support around 70 percent when he took office by replacing Shinzo Abe, who resigned due to health reasons after becoming Japan's longest-serving premier. But a series of scandals and criticism of his handling of the pandemic - including a torturously slow vaccine rollout - sent his ratings plunging to the low 30 percent level before recovering slightly.