Japan PM Takaichi's alliance set to retain lower house majority, show exit polls

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s governing coalition is almost certain to win a single-party majority in a key parliamentary election on Sunday, NHK public television and other major networks say, citing their exit poll results.

NHK says Takaichi’s ruling coalition led by her Liberal Democratic Party could win more than two-thirds of the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of the country’s two-chamber parliament.

The huge jump from the pre-election share could allow Takaichi to make progress on a right-wing agenda that aims to boost Japan’s economy and military capabilities as tensions grow with China, and she tries to nurture ties with Washington.

Takaichi took office in October as Japan’s first female leader.

Takaichi is hugely popular, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of the last seven decades, has struggled from funding and religious scandals. She called Sunday’s snap elections only after three months in office, hoping to turn that around before her popularity fades.

She wants to make progress on a right-wing agenda that aims to boost Japan’s economy and military capabilities as tensions grow with China. She also wants to nurture ties with her crucial US ally, and a sometimes unpredictable President Donald Trump.

Popular leader poised to win big

The ultraconservative Takaichi, who took office as Japan’s first female leader in October, pledged to "work, work, work," and her style, which is seen as both playful and tough, has resonated with younger fans.

The latest surveys indicated a landslide win in the lower house for the LDP. The opposition, despite the formation of a new centrist alliance and a rising far-right, is seen as too splintered to be a real challenger.

Takaichi bet that her LDP party, together with its new partner, the Japan Innovation Party, would secure a majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.

If the LDP fails to win a majority, "I will step down," she said.

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