Japan Starts Campaign for Upper House Election

Political candidates and party officials across Japan are filing paperwork. They're launching their campaigns for election in the Upper House of the Diet. The ballot is scheduled for July 10th.

    Half of the 242 Upper House seats are at stake every three years. 73 are allocated to constituencies and 48 are part of a proportional representation system.

    Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that his ruling bloc aims to win a majority of seats contested this time. That's 61 of the 121 seats up for grabs, according to Japan's (NHK WORLD) Radio News.

    Abe says he wants to discuss amending the Constitution in the next Diet session after the vote. In order to make an amendment, a national referendum is needed. But in order to have a national referendum, Abe needs the support of more than two-thirds of both chambers of the Diet. His ruling coalition already has the required number in the Lower House. 

    The threshold for the upper chamber is 162 seats. That number includes seats that are not being contested this time. It will be the first nationwide election since Japan lowered the voting age from 20 to 18. That means some 2.4 million teenagers are eligible to take part. The official campaign will continue for 18 days until Saturday, July 9th, a day before the vote.

Source : QNA