The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is still feeling the pressure over the next general election, even after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, backed by the LDP, won a landslide victory in Sunday’s gubernatorial election, defeating rivals including one backed by opposition parties.
Koike won a third term largely by emphasizing her accomplishments during her two four-year terms. The LDP refrained from officially endorsing Koike, apparently out of consideration for the fact that she was influenced by the public’s anti-LDP sentiment following the high-profile slush fund scandal.
The LDP suffered a major defeat in Sunday’s Tokyo metropolitan area by-elections, following a string of defeats in recent national and local elections. This is fresh cause for concern for the party as it heads into the next election for the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan’s parliament.
