‘Hopeless’: Japan’s weak opposition no match for ruling LDP

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — More than a dozen opposition parties are running in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, but they are no match for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s behemoth Liberal Democratic Party, which has reigned postwar Japan almost without interruption. The dominance of the LDP is taken for granted here, calling into question whether Japan enjoys a real democracy. On Sunday, 545 candidates from 15 parties are vying for 124 seats, or half of the 248-seat upper house, the less powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. The strong result expected for Kishida would allow him to work on long-term policy goals. With little chance of governing on their own, opposition parties are focused on survival rather than a mutual effort to present a viable challenge.