Japan's ruling bloc set to secure majority of contested seats in upper house election

TOKYO - Japan's ruling bloc of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito is set to secure a majority of seats contested in the House of Councilors election on Sunday, maintaining its majority in the upper chamber, Kyodo News exit polls showed.

The LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito are projected to snatch more than 63 of the 125 seats up for grabs.

The triennial election, held in the immediate aftermath of the shock death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was shot by a man during his campaign speech in Nara, is a critical test for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to assess voter confidence in the performance of his government since taking office last year.

The ruling LDP under the leadership of Kishida aimed to maintain a majority of the seats in the upper house with its coalition partner Komeito, which is important for them to stably run the government for the next three years.

The voters mainly decided on how well the Kishida government did in bolstering the country's COVID-19 response and scrambling to curb surging prices of energy and everyday items like food to ease the pain on households among other issues.

In Japan, upper house members serve six years, and half of the seats in the 248-member House of Councilors are contested every three years.

For this year's election, a total of 125 seats were contested, including 74 in electoral districts and 50 by proportional representation, together with one left vacant in the other half of the chamber.