Japanese voted in the shadow of the assassination of former PM Shinzo Abe that brought heightened security as party leaders avoided mingling with crowds and delivered messages of upholding democracy and free speech during campaigning the day before.
A staff member of a local election administration watches a voter preparing his ballot in the upper house elections at a polling station Sunday, July 10, 2022, in Tokyo. Japanese voted Sunday in the shadow of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that brought heightened security as
Exit polls by NHK public broadcaster and other media showed the governing Liberal Democratic Party was certain to secure a single majority of 125 seats, or half of the upper house, the less powerful of the two chambers.
“We absolutely refuse to let violence shut out free speech,” Kishida said in his final rally in the northern city of Niigata on Saturday. “We must demonstrate that our democracy and election will not back down on violence.” Abe's body, in a black hearse accompanied by his wife, Akie, returned to his home in Tokyo's upscale Shibuya, where many mourners, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and top party officials, paid tribute. His wake and funeral are expected in coming days.
Even after stepping down as prime minister in 2020, Abe was highly influential in the LDP and headed its largest faction. His absence could change the power balance in the governing party that has almost uninterruptedly ruled postwar Japan since its 1955 foundation, experts say. Abe stepped down two years ago blaming a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis he’d had since he was a teenager. He said he regretted leave many of his goals unfinished, including the issue of Japanese abducted years ago by North Korea, a territorial dispute with Russia, and a revision of Japan's war-renouncing constitution that many conservatives consider a humiliation, because of poor public support.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ex-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assassinated, dies at 67 after campaign shootingShinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, died at the age of 67 Friday after being shot during a campaign speech in western Japan.
Read more »
Ex-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Assassinated at Campaign EventFormer Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, one of his nation’s most powerful and influential figures, has died after being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, hospital officials said.
Read more »
Shinzo Abe, long-serving Japanese leader, slain at 67Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister of Japan, who sought to revive the country as an economic and military power to confront China’s rising influence, died July 8 after being shot by a gunman.
Read more »
A timeline of the career of former Japanese PM Shinzo AbeTOKYO (AP) — Born into a prominent political family, Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot at a campaign event Friday in western Japan, had been the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
Read more »
Angelenos shocked, saddened at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assassinationBefore he was Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe studied for three semesters at USC in the late 70s.
Read more »
Houston Japanese Americans 'absolutely stunned' by shooting death of Shinzo AbeThe shooting death of the 67-year-old prominent leader in a country where gun violence is...
Read more »