The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito swept a two-thirds majority of the Lower House in the general election last Sunday. The result was only natural given the breakup of the No. 1 opposition Democratic Party just before the campaign kicked off.
Right after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the Lower House for the snap election, DP leader Seiji Maehara made the surprise move to effectively disband the party to be absorbed by the upstart Kibo no To (Party of Hope) just launched by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.
Koike, however, said her party would only selectively accept DP members, excluding those who oppose amending the Constitution. The word "exclude" she uttered to reject some DP members offended voters and popular expectations in her party quickly dwindled. The outcome of the election was fairly predictable when Kibo no To, the main contender to Abe's ruling coalition, entered the race without even identifying its own candidate for prime minister.
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