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Japan ruling parties win stable lower house majority

TOKYO, Oct 22 (KUNA) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is poised to secure two-thirds of the seats in the Lower House election on Sunday.
A total of 1,180 candidates are vying for the 465 seats at stake -- 289 from single-seat constituencies and 176 through proportional representation process in 11 regions.
As of 2:50 a.m. (1750 GMT Sunday), public broadcaster NHK projected that the LDP has won 283 seats, and its coalition partner New Komeito has won 29 seats.
The coalition have secured enough seats to maintain a two-thirds majority, or 310 seats in the 465-seat strong chamber, which has the power to appoint a prime minister.
It's an important benchmark that gives them strong power in terms of passing legislation, and in the process to amend the Constitution.
On the opposition side, two parties are still in tight competition to become the main opposition. The Constitutional Democratic Party is likely to secure 51 seats, and Hope is expected to take 49 seats, according to NHK.
Appearing on an NHK program on Sunday night, Abe said he will do his best to produce results on key issues by using the stable political platform that voters have given his ruling party.
"I must humbly accept the victory in this election. The fact that the ruling party was given a majority of seats represents the view of the people that he must continue to pursue policies using a stable political platform," said Abe.
"I will continue to do everything I can to produce results with humility and sincerity," the premier said.
The 63-year-old Abe, who took office in 2012, dissolved the Lower House last month for a snap election to seek the public support to his security polices dealing with North Korean threats and his plans to review the allocation of revenues from a scheduled tax hike in 2019.
Some 140 million Japanese citizens were eligible to vote. Voter turnout is expected to be around 53.6 percent, slightly higher than the previous Lower House election in 2014. (pickup previous) mk.bs