The ruling Liberal Democratic Party may lose its outright majority in the Lower House of parliament for the first time since 2009 in this month’s election while keeping control of the chamber with the help of its coalition partner, major Japanese media outlets predicted Thursday.
The Mainichi Shimbun forecast the LDP to win between 203 and 250 seats in the Lower House, leaving open the possibility that the party will fall short of the 233 seats needed for a majority for the first time since it lost power in a 2009 election.
Based on phone surveys of voters on Oct. 15 and 16, with around 190,000 responses, the Mainichi also forecast that coalition partner Komeito would win 24 to 29 seats, down from its current share of 32 seats.
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