The polls opened today in Japan for parliamentary elections elections which portend particularly difficult for the party of the country’s new prime minister, Shigeru Isiba, as, according to opinion polls, he is in danger of losing his majority in parliament.

Ishiba, 67, called a snap election shortly after being elected head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and thus Japan’s prime minister, hoping to take advantage of the grace period to strengthen his hold on power.

But the LDP, embroiled in a “black money” scandal, may not be able to win an outright majority of seats – 233 out of 465 – in the lower house, along with its ruling partner, the Komeito party, according to many polls.

Such a result will be unprecedented in the history of the party, which has managed to remain in power for almost all 69 years since its foundation.

Ishiba assured a campaign rally in Tokyo on Saturday that the LDP wants to “relaunch on new grounds as a party that is impartial, fair and honest.”

He promised voters “a new Japan,” outlining his plan to strengthen security and defense, support low-income households and revive rural Japan.

But the LDP has been unable to turn the page after the scandal surrounding its funding, which contributed to a drop in the popularity of previous prime minister Fumio Kishida.

Although Ishiba vowed not to support the election campaign of LDP officials accused in the scandal, the Asahi newspaper reported that the party gave ¥20 million (€122,000) to local groups run by those officials, prompting the backlash. of the opposition.

According to local media, Isiba may step down immediately if his party loses the election, taking responsibility for the defeat. In that case, he will become Japan’s shortest-serving prime minister since World War II.

The current record is held by Naruhiko Higashikuni, with 54 days as prime minister in 1945. Ishiba is currently on his 26th day in office.

There are 1,344 candidates in today’s elections, of which only 23.4% are women. Although the figure is particularly small, it is a record number in a country where gender disparities are wide.