TOKYO (AP) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is counting on a landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections that will likely return his ruling coalition to power with an even bigger majority, empowering him to pursue an ambitious agenda of political and economic reforms.
“This is the only way!” is the slogan Abe is driving home in his campaign speeches. For Japanese voters, that is probably the case.
The economy is back in recession, the government’s popularity ratings have slid and messy campaign finance scandals have roiled Abe’s Cabinet. Normally, that would be bad news for the incumbent. Yet Abe is virtually the only game in town thanks to Japan’s tendency toward a one-party political system, voter apathy and a lack of viable alternatives.
Polls show that many voters, fed up with or indifferent to the choices on offer, support no party in particular, so Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party may win by default.
“The problem of this election is there is actually no choice for voters,” said Yu Uchiyama, a professor of political science at Tokyo University. “Many people will choose Abe as a kind of negative choice. There are no alternatives.”