The June 25 Lower House election ended with a voter turnout of only 62.49 percent. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered a sharp setback, with its strength decreasing to 233 seats from a pre-election figure of 271. On the other hand, the top opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, saw its strength increase to 127 seats from 95.
New Komeito won 31 seats, down from 42; the Liberal Party 22, up from 18; the Japan Communist Party 20, down from 26; the Social Democratic Party 19, up from 14; the New Conservative Party seven, down from 18; and minor parties and independents 21, up from 15. Electoral reforms cut the total number of seats to 480 from 500.
What do these figures tell?