Against this backdrop, it might look like Ishiba has taken a political gamble. His party had held 247 of 465 seats in the lower house, while its coalition partner, Komeito, had 32. A party needs 233 seats to control the house, known as the Diet.
There are now fears Komeito may fail to reach that number again, while the main opposition – which had 98 seats in the previous parliament – began to pick up momentum with voters ahead of Sunday’s election.
“I think the LDP has dug itself a very deep hole to climb out of. It does not enjoy public trust, and why should it? There’s just been a cascade of scandals,” Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian studies and history at Temple University Japan, told the BBC.
But he does not think any of this will necessarily lead to the party losing the elections.
“I think they (LDP) are worried they’re going to lose some marginal seats, and there are questions hanging over Komeito and how effective a coalition partner they will be,” Prof Kingston said.
Should they pull off a win, Miyuki Fujisaki, the care-home sector worker, warns they will have to do more than just pay lip service to change.
“I want them to show us what they are going to do so this [the scandals] doesn’t happen again,” she said. “They need to prove it – not just say it like they often do in the election time.”
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