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Tokyo, February 8. Voting for the general elections in Japan began on Sunday morning. In this election, a total of 1,284 candidates are in the fray for 465 seats in the lower house of the Parliament, i.e. the House of Representatives. According to Xinhua news agency, the main issue of this election is whether the ruling coalition ‘Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan Innovation Party’ will be able to gain majority and the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will continue. Polling stations across the country will close at 8 pm local time and counting of votes is expected to continue till late night.

Recent polls from Japan’s major media outlets have indicated that the ruling coalition is likely to win a majority. At the same time, according to a survey by Kyodo News, the new opposition party ‘Centrist Reform Alliance’ formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and former LDP ally Kometo seems to be suffering a loss compared to before the elections. However, despite these estimates, surveys show that a large number of voters are still undecided. In such a situation, there is a possibility of change in the results at the last moment. Additionally, scams to LDP are also increasing uncertainty regarding the elections.

On January 23, Prime Minister Takaichi had suddenly decided to dissolve the lower house and hold early elections. This was the first time in the last 60 years that the House was dissolved at the beginning of the regular session of Parliament. She has said that if the alliance does not win a majority, she will step down. His decision has also been criticized. Critics say he gave more importance to political interests than to passing the preliminary budget for fiscal year 2026, which starts in April, even though he had promised to give priority to policy implementation.

This is the first time since 1990 that lower house elections are being held in Japan in the month of February. At the same time, due to continued heavy snowfall in the coastal areas of the Sea of ​​Japan, concerns are being raised about the disruption in traffic and the safety of voters. This may also affect the voting percentage.