DAYS after his assassination, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party vowed to use its sizable victory in a parliamentary election to achieve his unfinished goals, including strengthening the military and revising the country’s pacifist, postwar constitution.
The governing Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito secured a majority in the parliament’s upper house in elections Sunday that took on new meaning after Abe was shot to death while campaigning Friday in a crime that shook the nation. The result means Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could rule uninterrupted until a scheduled election in 2025 and allows him to work on long-term policies — but the constitutional amendment would still face an uphill battle.
Kishida welcomed the victory but also acknowledged the need to unify the party without Abe, who even after resigning as prime minister in 2020 remained a force in the party and national politics.
“Because we’ve lost a great leader, undeniably
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