In Japan, the election of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the parliament, has been going on since Sunday morning. According to pre-election polls, the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) may not win a majority. The LDP has only lost power twice since it was founded in the 1950s, most recently in 2009.
More than 45 thousand polling stations will be open on Sunday from 7:00 local time to 20 (from 12 midnight to 12 noon in Poland). By the time they close, the media is expected to report the first tentative results of the Japanese House of Representatives election.
475 deputies will be elected in the general elections – 289 mandates are nominated in single-member constituencies and 176 mandates are nominated according to the proportional system. 1344 candidates are taking part in this year's elections, which is a record number of 314 women.
Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Ishiba, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party PAP/EPA/JIJI PRESS
About 105 million citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote. Voters receive two forms: on one form, for voting in the single-mandate system, they must write the name of the candidate, on the second, the name of the party.
As the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on Saturday, more than 16.4 million people participated in early voting.
The last time they lost power was 15 years ago, and now it could happen again
Various polls show that the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, will not win an independent majority. He is also unlikely to form a majority government with his longtime coalition partner, Komeito, which is also expected to win fewer seats than in previous elections.
According to analysts, the Democratic Constitutional Party will win more votes than in the previous elections, but not enough to form a new government. This is because smaller opposition parties are too divided to join a larger coalition.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the opposition PAP/EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON Constitutional Democratic Party
If the GOP loses, its current leader Shigeru Ishiba could become the shortest-serving prime minister in Japan's post-war history. The current record holder is Naruhiko Higashikuni, who served just 54 days in 1945 after the end of World War II.
Since its establishment in 1955, the People's Democratic Party has lost power only twice, the last time in 2009.
This year's elections for the House of Representatives will be held just 26 days after Ishiba, who was elected head of the Democratic Democratic Party late last month, became prime minister on October 1. Eight days later he dissolved parliament, the fastest election in post-war Japan.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
