TOKYO (Sputnik) – The 242 elected members of the House of Councilors serve six-year terms, with elections every three years for half of the seats.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and other conservative politicians aim to achieve a two-thirds majority in the upper house. According to polls, the LDP-led coalition could gain the so-called super-majority, which would make it the first time a single party has a majority in both houses of Japan’s parliament since 1989.
The Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party merged in March, forming the Democratic Innovation Party with 156 lawmakers. However, the merger is not expected to help the main opposition win the majority in the upper house.
The Japanese Communist Party is projected to win 15 seats in the election.
Sunday’s election is the first in which people aged 18 and 19 years are allowed to vote, with the minimum voting age in Japan previously set at 20.
