Japan votes in upper house elections following assassination of former PM Abe

The people of Japan have started to vote in the upper house elections, just two days after former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated while on the campaign trail.

The Sunday election, which is expected to see Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party increase its majority, has been overshadowed by the murder.

But Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other politicians have insisted the shock killing would not halt the democratic process.

"We must never allow violence to suppress speech during elections, which are the foundation of democracy," he said Saturday, as he campaigned across the country.

He also took time to pay condolences at Abe's family home in Tokyo, where the former premier's body arrived on Saturday afternoon from a hospital in western Japan.

Japan mourns Abe's murder as questions swirl over motives

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

The assassination, which occurred on Friday, rattled the nation and sent shockwaves around the world, prompting an outpouring of sympathy even from nations with which the hawkish Abe had sometimes difficult relations, like China and South Korea.

The man accused of his murder, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, is in custody and has told investigators he targeted Abe because he believed the politician was linked to a unnamed organization.

Local media say Yamagami's family had suffered financial trouble as a result of his mother's donations to the group.

Abe had been campaigning in the western region of Nara for a candidate from his ruling LDP when Yamagami opened fire, and local police there on Saturday admitted "problems" with the security plan for the high-profile figure.

Japan’s police chief accepts responsibility for security flaws leading to Abe’s assassination

The police chief of Japan’s Nara says he takes responsibility for security problems that led to the assassination of Shinzo Abe.

With little violent crime and tough gun laws, security at Japanese campaign events can be relaxed, though in the wake of Abe's murder, measures were beefed up for Kishida's remaining appearances.

At Abe's family home in Tokyo on Saturday, a steady stream of senior politicians dressed in black arrived to pay condolences.

Election win expected for ruling LDP 

The murder of Japan's best-known politician has sparked international condemnation, with US President Joe Biden ordering flags flown at half-mast through Sunday and Chinese President Xi Jinping saying he was "deeply saddened."

Local media have reported a wake for Abe will be held Monday evening, with a funeral for close family and associates only on Tuesday.

Abe was the scion of a political family and became the country's youngest post-war prime minister when he took power for the first time in 2006, aged 52.

His hawkish, nationalist views were divisive, particularly his desire to reform the country's pacifist constitution to recognize the country's military, and he weathered a series of scandals, including allegations of cronyism.

International condemnations, reactions pour in after Abe’s assassination

Shinzo Abe was a conservative who pushed for the revision of Japan

But he was lauded by others for his economic strategy, dubbed "Abenomics" and his efforts to put Japan firmly on the world stage, including by cultivating close ties with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

Kishida, 64, was once described as among Abe's favored successors, and holds a solid majority in parliament along with coalition partner Komeito.

Sunday's vote is expected to cement that hold on power, leaving Kishida even better positioned to go into a "golden three years" in which he will face no further elections.

But he faces significant policy headwinds, including rising prices and energy shortages, particularly after an early summer heat wave that led to a power crunch.

Polls close at 8:00 pm (1100 GMT), with projected results from Japanese media expected immediately after.

(Source: AFP)

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