Japan’s ruling party suffers defeat in Tokyo election

‘Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party suffered a historic defeat in an election in the Japanese capital on Sunday, signaling trouble ahead for the premier, who has suffered from slumping support because of a favoritism scandal.
On the surface, the Tokyo Metropolitan assembly election was a referendum on Governor Yuriko Koike’s year in office, but the dismal showing for Abe’s party is also a stinging rebuke of his 4-1/2-year-old administration.
Koike’s Tokyo Citizens First party and its allies were on track for 73 to 85 seats in the 127-seat assembly, according to exit polls by NHK public TV.
Later vote counts showed the LDP was certain to post its worst-ever result, winning at most 37 seats compared with 57 before the election, NHK said, while Koike’s party and allies were assured a majority.’
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