Japan’s conservative governing coalition has dramatically strengthened its grip on power after a landslide victory in Sunday’s elections in what will be seen as an early public endorsement of the new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
Her Liberal Democratic party (LDP) had won 316 seats by early Monday, comfortably surpassing the 261 it needed for an absolute majority in the 465-member lower house and the highest number since the party was founded in 1955. With her coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, which won 36 seats, Takaichi now has a supermajority of two-thirds of seats, easing her legislative agenda as she can override the upper chamber, which she does not control.
