Spotlight: Campaigning for Japan's upper house poll kicks off with economy, Constitution reform on focus

Official campaigning for the July 10 Japanese House of Councillors election kicked off on Wednesday with the ruling coalition that groups the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito Party contesting with the opposition parties over policies on economy and Constitution amendment.

The ruling bloc led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is aiming at secure half of the 121 contested seats in the upper house run so as to maintain a two-third majority in the chamber to launch a Constitution amendment motion. It needs approval by two-third majority in both chambers of the Japanese bicameral parliament to launch the motion to review the Japanese Supreme Law.

Half seats of the 242-position upper house are up to grab every three years. Around 390 candidates are expected to contest in the run next month through a mix of constituencies and proportional representation, according to local reports.

To gain the two-third majority in the chamber, the ruling bloc needs to secure about 86 seats in the contest, a goal higher even than the best record of 76 seats it won in the 2013 upper house election. If the LDP secured about 65 seats and all 13 Komeito candidates were elected, the ruling bloc could still have a chance to launch the Constitution reform motion through cooperation with other small parties that in favor of Constitution amendment.

To avoid losing support ratings in the contest by making the Constitution amendment a main focal point in the upcoming election, Abe, president of the LDP, stopped short to deliberate the party's agenda on the issue during a public debate with other parties' leaders on Tuesday.

The well-known historical revisionist said that changing the war-renouncing Constitution, which was compiled at the end of World War II, is a goal for the LDP since it came into being.

However, the prime minister has reportedly revealed his intention to discuss how to amend the pacifism Constitution during the National Diet's Autumn session after the upper house election.

The ruling camp currently emphasized on promoting and pushing the prime minister's economic policy mix dubbed "Abenomics" and Abe vowed to bring outcomes of his economic policies to benefit all people in Japan. "Abenomics" is "still halfway on the road," said the prime minister on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, to stop Abe's "runaway policies", some opposition parties, including the Democratic Party and Japan Communist Party, reached an agreement to register joint candidates in the all 32 single constituencies. They also called on people who oppose the controversial Special Secrecy Law and unconstitutional security laws to vote against the ruling bloc.

Citing the prime minister's decision to delay the planned sales tax hike again by about 18 months, Katsuya Okada, leader of the major Japanese opposition party of the Democratic Party, said the government economic policies are "stuck at a fork in the road" and "must be turned around."

He also criticized the newly enacted new security laws that the constitutional pacifism is being changed by the legislation and it should not be allowed, calling for the retraction of the security laws.

According to latest survey by Japanese newspaper of the Mainichi Shimbun, over 60 percent of the respondents thought the "Abenomics" should be adjusted.

The upper house election came at a time when Japan lowered the voting age from 20 to 18, that means eligible voters therefore increased by about 2.4 million. However, over 60 percent of the new voters also expressed their doubt over the effectiveness of the "Abenomics."

At the same time, four electoral district boundaries have been redrawn to address a prolonged problem of disparity in the weight of votes between constituencies. The disparities prompt the Supreme Court here labeled the last upper house race in 2013 "in a state of unconstitutionality."

According to a poll by the Asahi Shimbun, supporting rate for the LDP stood at 38 percent, while about 15 percent of the respondents in favor of the Democratic Party. Some 7 percent and 6 percent are supporting the Komeito Party and Japan Communist Party respectively.

Some 59 percent of the surveyed showed their hope that the opposition parties could coordinate to confront the ruling bloc, said the poll conducted during the weekend. Endit