Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could receive a surge of support in an upper house election on Sunday following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the party's leading statesman and power broker.
Abe, Japan's longest-serving modern leader, was gunned down on Friday during a speech in support of a local candidate in the western city of Nara - a killing the political establishment condemned as an attack on democracy itself.Elections for seats in parliament's less powerful upper house are typically seen as a referendum on the sitting government, and the latest opinion polls already pointed to a strong showing for the ruling bloc led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - an Abe protege.
There was an increased police presence when Kishida appeared at a campaign event in a city southwest of Tokyo and a metal detection scanner was installed at the venue - an unusual security measure in Japan.A strong showing at the polls could help Kishida consolidate his rule, giving the former banker from Hiroshima a chance to carry out his goal of boosting defence spending.
"By undermining the public's general sense of safety and order, the event could also add further momentum to those key Abe causes like defence build-up and constitutional revision," he added.Polls last week showed the LDP winning at least 60 of the 125 seats being contested on Sunday, compared with the 55 it now holds, allowing it to maintain the majority in the chamber that it holds with Komeito.
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