Abe won a mandate to harden his already hawkish stance on North Korea and re-energise the world's number-three economy. Abe was heading for a "landslide win", the top-selling Yomiuri daily said on its website, as the premier's gamble to hold a snap election appeared to be paying off. "I support Abe's stance not to give in to North Korea's pressure," said Yoshihisa Iemori as he cast his ballot in a rainswept Tokyo. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) benefited from a weak and splintered opposition, with the two main parties facing him created only a matter of weeks ago. The new centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party fared slightly better than expected but still trailed far behind Abe with 58 seats.

Source: Standard Digital October 23, 2017 08:26 UTC