Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling party eked out wins in four of five Japanese by-elections held Sunday, public broadcaster NHK said, likely adding fuel to speculation that he will call an early election in the coming months.
The premier’s Liberal Democratic Party kept the three seats it previously held of the five, including the constituency in the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi vacated when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated last year. It also picked up a fourth, an upper house seat in Oita Prefecture, NHK said.
The victories are likely to add to momentum for Kishida to call a national election after hosting the Group of Seven summit May 19-21 in Hiroshima. Still, four of the races had been too close to call earlier and the LDP eventually won three of them with slim margins.
