Sneider on Japan’s election results

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved Japan’s lower house of parliament in November, and held an early election on December 14. The vote kept the status quo – the ruling Liberal Democratic Party retained its majority in the Diet, winning two-thirds of the seats.

In a Dispatch Japan Q&A, Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, discusses the election results and weighs the outcomes for the Abe administration.

“For Abe, this election was all about power, and retaining power.

“With this victory, Abe should have staved off any serious challengers, barring external events that dramatically change the perception of his government.”

Sneider said the question remains what Abe will choose to do with his ‘somewhat rebuilt’ political clout.

The full article is available on the Dispatch Japan blog, and in Toyo Keizai, a Tokyo-based economics/politics publication, in Japanese and English.