Campaign of General Election Starts
The 50 th general election of the House of Representatives was proclaimed on October 15 th . 1,344 candidates were fielded in single-seat constituencies or proportional representatives. This election was called by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who sought voters’ judge for his new administration built earlier this month. His party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has been in a turmoil caused by the slush fund scandal since last year. The focal point in this election is whether the leading coalition of LDP and Komeito can maintain their simple majority in the House. The LDP fielded 342 candidates; 266 for single-seat constituencies and 76 for proportional representatives. The number of proportional representatives does not include the candidates with double nomination, who will be resurrected in case they lose in single-seat constituency. Komeito fielded 50, with 11 for single-seat and 39 for the proportional. Before the proclamation, the LDP had 256 seats in the House, and Komeito