Appalling Poll

News media reported amazing result of polls on general election of the House of Representatives, which will be voted on 14^th of this month. Every research found that leading Liberal Democratic Party would gain over three hundred seats out of four hundred seventy-five, which contradicted most anticipation of significant loss. Many voters were chilled by the reports and uninterested in the election.

According to the polls operated on the starting day of the campaign and the next, LDP had great momentum to get over 300 seats as the sum of possible winner in districts and proportional representatives. With the seats of Komeito, which will be around 30, leading coalition might be occupying over two-third majority, enabling them to initiate the amendment of the Constitution.

The biggest opposite party, Democratic Party of Japan, would not regain enough power. Although they will increase their seats from current 62, the outcome will not reach their goal of three digits. Innovation Party will significantly lose their seats from 42 to less than 30. Next Generation Party will be diminished to single digits from current 19. Strangely enough, Communist Party will be doubling their seats from 8 now.

The biggest reason is weak opposites. DPJ could not raise enough candidates. Even if their all candidates are elected, they will still not be able to get majority. The third parties were mostly broken away. Your Party was broken up just before the election. Innovation Party showed their immatureness in endless internal antagonizm over the distance from leading parties. Next Generation Party is apparently occupied by politicians in old generation, who wanted to survive through the art of camouflage. Independent voters tend to escape from those unstable parties and approach to LDP.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned his colleagues to be careful about carelessness. LDP leaders sent a notice to all candidates that realized the election as still hard struggle and inattentiveness would be recognized by the voters. The President of DPJ, Banri Kaieda, reiterated that the race was still in the beginning. Having appealed its role as braking pedal against Abe, Komeito is worrying about the decline of its reason d’être in the leading coalition.

It is expected that election turnout will become as low as it never had. Japanese voters show negative response to an election, when the result is predictable. In the advent of Christmas, people will go to parties in pubs to forget everything happened this year, ignoring consequences this election will bring.