Polls open for by-elections in two Japanese constituencies
By Marinah Mazuki,WNS Japan Correspondent
TOKYO - Polling stations opened Sunday in two Japanese constituencies holding by-elections to the powerful lower house, the first electoral test for Prime Minister Shizo Abe since he took office last month. Although the results of two suburban by-elections cannot affect the ruling coalitions' huge majority in the House of Representatives, they are expected to provide an early guide for upper-house elections next July.
Voting stations in the two constituencies - one in a district in Kanagawa, west of Tokyo and the other in Osaka, the country's second biggest urban region - close at 8:00pm local time (1100 GMT) with the first exit poll results expected shortly afterward.
Opinion polls suggest Abe's tough stand on North Korea's nuclear test has proved popular, with the major daily Yomiuri Shimbun reporting last Tuesday that his government enjoyed 70 percent public support. Abe, who has built his career on campaigning against North Korea's nuclear ambitions and its abductions of Japanese during the Cold War era, was elected on September 26 as Japan's youngest prime minister since World War II.
posted by wnsworld @ 12:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home