Japan ruling coalition misses majority

Japan's ruling coalition loses majority in snap elections, a setback for new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

TOKYO:

Japan's ruling coalition has lost its majority after snap elections, Japanese media projected early Monday, in a major blow to new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Ishiba, 67, called Sunday's election only days after taking office on October 1, aiming to bolster his position and that of his scandal-hit Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost constantly for seven decades.

But national broadcaster NHK and other media outlets predicted in the hours after polls closed that the LDP -- in the party's worst result since 2009 -- together with its long-term junior coalition party Komeito had fallen short of the 233 seats needed for a majority in Japan's lower house.

Voters in the world's fourth-largest economy have been rankled by rising prices and the fallout from a party slush fund scandal that helped sink previous premier Fumio Kishida.

"We are receiving severe judgement," Ishiba told NHK earlier Sunday while it still remained unclear whether the coalition would secure enough seats.