Poll: Big Loss For Japan’s Ruling Party
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TOKYO — Prime Minister Abe’s ruling party suffered humiliating losses in parliamentary elections yesterday after a string of scandals, exit polls showed, but Mr. Abe said he did not plan to resign. The Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan almost without interruption since 1955, was set to lose its majority in the Upper House while the leading opposition party made huge gains, according to exit polls broadcast by Japanese television networks. Mr. Abe told reporters at his party’s headquarters that he intends to stay on despite the disappointing results, and accepts responsibility for the defeat.
“We tried our best and felt we made some progress, so the results are extremely disappointing … I must push ahead with reforms and continue to fulfill my responsibilities as prime minister,” he said. “The responsibility for this utter defeat rests with me.”
The Kyodo news agency reported that the party’s no. 2 official may resign.
“If projections are correct, we are looking at utter defeat,” Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general Hidenao Nakagawa told reporters at the party’s Tokyo headquarters after polls closed.
