One of the World’s Most Successful Political Parties Is in Trouble in Japan
Japan’s LDP is at risk of losing its majority in parliament
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, delivers a speech in support of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in Chiba on Oct. 19.
Photographer: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images
Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has held power for all but a handful of years since the 1950s largely due to strong support in rural areas of the archipelago. That formula for success now looks to be unraveling ahead of Sunday’s national election.
Polls show that the ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took the job on Oct. 1, may fail to win a majority for the first time since 2009 even though the LDP will likely get more votes than any other party. That’s mostly the result of fallout from a slush fund scandal that tainted the party’s reputation.