Ruling coalition expected to win Japan Upper House election: Poll

Tokyo, July 5 Japan's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito is headed for victory in the upcoming House of Councilors election, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's LDP likely to win more seats than the number it currently holds, according to an opinion poll.

The LDP is projected to snatch about 60 seats on its own, up from the current 55 it holds, Xinhua news agency quoted the poll conducted by Nikkei business daily as saying.

For the election scheduled for July 10, a total of 125 seats are up for contentions among the 248 members' seats, making 63 a simple majority.

The Nikkei poll results run counter to recent public opinion surveys which have shown dwindling support for the Kishida-led government due to surging prices and higher fuel costs.

The triennial election is a critical test for the Prime Minister to assess voter confidence in the performance of his government since he took office nearly nine months ago.

The voters will mainly decide on how well the Kishida government did in bolstering the country's Covid-19 response and scrambling to curb surging prices of energy and everyday items like food to ease the pain on households, among other issues.

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