Japan's PM Kishida declares victory for ruling LDP

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has declared victory for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). It was a big win for Kishida, who became Prime Minister only a month ago. His  party secured more than 233 Lower House seats enough to govern without its coalition partner Komeito.The LDP has dominated Japanese politics for decades, but was criticised for its handling of the pandemic. Kishida's predecessor Yoshihide Suga quit after just a year in office. The resignation came amid plummeting poll ratings for the LDP following an unpopular push to continue with the Tokyo Olympics despite public concern about surging COVID-19 rates.
Kishida has long-targeted the Prime Ministerial role and previously served as the country's Foreign Minister from 2012 to 2017. He  vowed to boost the world's third-biggest economy with a fresh pandemic spending package which he said he would draft this month. He also said Japan would "take a leading role in working towards zero emissions in Asia", "It was a very tough election, but the people's will -- that they want us to create this country's future under the stable LDP-Komeito government and the Kishida administration -- was shown," the prime minister said. Investors cheered the results, with the benchmark Nikkei stock index rising more than two percent after the ruling bloc limited its losses to beat exit poll predictions.

The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito won 293 of the 465 seats in parliament's lower house, local media reported while the official result was finalised.The coalition had previously held 305 seats in parliament, and the LDP 276 on its own. Kishida said he would improve the health system's ability to treat Covid patients and start booster shots from December. He also promised to deliver "a large-scale economic stimulus" as soon as possible within this year, without saying how much it would be. The LDP has also pledged to increase defence spending to counter threats from China and North Korea.