Japan's ruling camp wins upper house election, ends twisted Diet

Japan's ruling camp, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito Party, has put an end to the country's "twisted Diet" as it won a majority of seats in the House of Councillors, according to Japan's broadcaster NHK. Based on exit polls, the broadcaster predicted that the ruling bloc secured 73 seats in Sunday's upper house election as the LDP and the New Komeito Party each secured 63 seats and 10 seats. Along with the uncontested 59 seats of the ruling bloc, the ruling camp has maintained more than 122 seats in the 242-seat upper house. Vote-counting is still under way and the ruling bloc may get more seats, said NHK. Vice President of the LDP Masahiko Komura commented that the victory showed public willingness of political stability. "I think that is a strong feeling of the public," he said in an interview after noticing the result. As to the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies dubbed "Abenomics," Komura said that the party needs to "continue with this so that people can have a real sense of recovery." Exit polls forecast that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) would secure record-low seats in the upper house with the number of 14 to 21 seats. As of now, the party secured 13 seats. Senior official of the DPJ Sumio Mabuchi said in an interview that the election was a "very tough fight" and expressed his gratitude to the supporters and voters who cast their votes to the party. "I gravely accept the outcome," said Mabuchi. The DPJ remained the largest party in the upper house before the election. The party was defeated by the LDP in the lower house election last December and was ousted from the ruling position. The NHK exit poll said that the Japan Restoration Party, which has secured seven seats now, may get seven to 10 seats, which the party's co-head Toru Hashimoto said he can not consider it as a victory, according to local media. Hashimoto said in an interview that his party is not able to stop the LDP's momentum as voters have showed their expectations towards the LDP, adding the party will talk about the outcome among the leadership. About his resignation, Hashimoto said that the issue will be left to the party's executive to decide. As of now, Your Party and the Japanese Communist Party have secured five seats respectively. Other political parties and individual runners may each secure one seat and there are still 15 seats to be decided. Related: Backgrounder: Japan's upper house election BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Japanese voters on Sunday started to cast their ballots in the country's upper house election. More than 400 candidates run for 121 seats, half of the total 242 seats in Japan's Upper House of Parliament, known as the House of Councilors.Full story Japan's upper house election kicks off, voting under way TOKYO, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Voting for election of Japan's House of Councillors, or the upper house, kicked off at 7 a.m. local time on Sunday as the country's ruling bloc is expected to set a victory in the polling, putting an end to the "twisted Diet." The voting started across the country at about 48,000 polling stations, which will close at 8 p.m. local time the day and media exit poll will immediately forecast the outcome, while the formal result would come out early Monday.Full story News Analysis: Ruling LDP heading for big win in Sunday's Upper House election: Japanese academic OSAKA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- On the run-up to the House of Councilors election on Sunday, a respected Japanese professor said that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner, the New Komei Party, would secure an overwhelming majority that would reflect the voters' high expectations that the monetary easing-dependent growth policies of the government are good for the country. In the 23rd election to the Upper House of the Diet, 121 members, or half of the house, will be elected under the constituency and proportional representation systems.