Nhk: Ruling Coalition Certain To Secure Enough Seats To Keep A Majority
NHK's decision desk is projecting that the ruling coalition is certain to secure enough seats to maintain its force and keep a majority in the Upper House.
We expect Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, Komeito, will take more than half of the seats up for grabs.
We expect that the coalition and other parties in favor of amending the Constitution will surpass a threshold for starting the process to propose a change.
The LDP and Komeito are projected to have a combined total of 69 seats. That's once you add in representatives still in the middle of their term.
The LDP has so far taken 52 seats. There is a chance that it will reach 63 seats -- half of what's up for grabs -- even without the help of its coalition partner.
We now focus on the opposition.
The Constitutional Democratic Party is at 10 seats.
Nippon Ishin Japan Innovation Party is at 10.
The Democratic Party for the People has 2.
The Japanese Communist Party has 3.
Reiwa Shinsengumi is at 1.
The Social Democratic Party and NHK Party are at 0.
And the tally for all others is 4 seats.
The ruling coalition and two other parties are in favor of amending the Constitution. They have a combined 86 seats, which is more than two-thirds of the chamber.
That's the level of support needed in both houses to be able to put a Constitutional amendment proposal to a national referendum.