Two days after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down, Japan will head to the polls for upper house elections on Sunday “in shock”, international news agencies have reported. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which forms a governing coalition with the conservative Komeito party, is expected to win the election. The polls will close at 8:00 PM local time (1:00 PM Dutch time), after which the first exit polls are expected soon.
Elections to the Japanese Senate are generally seen as a referendum for the incumbent government. Even before Abe’s assassination, Abe’s party and current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were expected to win the election. A major victory for the LDP would strengthen Kishida’s mandate to implement his key policy intentions; he wants, among other things, a doubling of defense spending.
‘Problems in security’
On the day of the polls, police led murder suspect Tetsuya Yamagami, who was immediately overpowered after he fired two shots at Abe in the western city of Nara on Friday, before a local prosecutor’s office on a murder charge. A local police officer admitted in a press conference on Saturday that “security issues” had allowed the attacker to get so close and fire a bullet at Abe while the former security guard gave a speech.
The double-barreled weapon that killed Abe was (self-)made of metal and wood, wrapped in heavy-duty black tape. A number of other homemade weapons and explosives were later found in the suspect’s home. Yamagami has told police that he initially wanted to kill a leader of a religious group, Japan’s Kyodo . news agency reported† His mother would have gotten into financial trouble due to a large donation to this group, which according to the suspect was promoted by Abe.
Also read this profile of Shinzo Abe: The man who wanted to make Japan ‘more ordinary’