<Anchor>
Today (10th), the third day of the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe, in Japan, the House of Councilors elections were held as scheduled.
Voting ended a little while ago at 8 o'clock, and the exit poll results just came out.
Tokyo Connect.
Correspondent Park Sang-jin, how are the results of the first election predicted?
<Reporter>
Yes, right after the 8 o'clock voting ended, NTV, Japan's largest private broadcaster, announced the results of the exit poll.
Of the 125 seats in the House of Representatives elected in this election, the LDP, which forms the ruling coalition, is expected to win 57 to 69 seats and the Komeito party 11 to 14, respectively.
The House of Representatives has a total of 248 seats for a six-year term, and half of the seats are newly elected every three years.
So, if you combine it with the existing 70 seats in the ruling party, 136 seats up to 153 seats are possible.
This figure far exceeds the majority of 125 seats, which is quite a lot compared to the current 139 seats.
In addition, to propose constitutional amendment, two-thirds of the total seats, or 166 seats, are required. If the so-called 'constitutional reform forces' Jamin, Gongmyung, Japan Restoration Society, and the People's Democratic Party are combined, the number is expected to rise from 150 to 178.
The final counting results are expected to come out early tomorrow morning.
<Anchor>
So, to what extent did the shooting have an impact?
<Reporter>
Yes, I personally went to the polling place and looked at the reactions of Japanese citizens. Let's hear it.
[How much do you think the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe affected the election?]
[Kato: I think some people voted for the LDP after seeing the death of a major politician in the shooting.]
[Fujita: Linking the case of former Prime Minister Abe I don't think it would have a big impact because I didn't vote.] Some said that the
assassination of former Prime Minister Abe had an effect on voting, while others said it had no effect.
However, looking at the results of the exit poll, it seems difficult to deny that this case led to more mobilization of the conservative vote.
The opposition party criticized the incompetence of the ruling party by citing high prices due to the low yen, but it seems that the result was favorable to the ruling party as the shooting incident overlapped with the strong support for the LDP.
<Anchor>
How do you think the Kishida regime in Japan will come out in the future?
<Reporter>
Yes, there are no major elections in Japan for the next three years, so it is analyzed that Prime Minister Kishida will have three golden years.
Enlarging an image
It seems that discussions on constitutional amendment will begin in earnest in the future.
The plan is to change the peace constitution, which states that in case of emergency, it has the ability to strike the enemy's missile base and uses the minimum defense power only when attacked.
Prime Minister Kishida is classified as a moderate member of the party, but the possibility of a confrontation with the party's conservative party has been raised.
(Video coverage: Han Cheol-min, Moon Hyun-jin, video editing: Park Chun-bae)