TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election on Sunday in a snap poll he had billed as a referendum on his economic policies, but a record low voter turn-out threatened to cloud any mandate.

Despite only around half of voters casting a ballot, the conservative Abe claimed popular endorsement for his mix of nationalism and ‘Abenomics’ — a signature plan to fix the country’s flaccid economy that enjoyed early success but faded into a recession.

“The ruling coalition has been given a majority,” Abe told a television interviewer. “We humbly want to meet the public’s expectations.”

“I think we received people’s mandate for the Abe government’s performance in the past two years. But we must not be complacent and must carefully explain to the public when implementing policies,” Abe said.

Media exit polls showed his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito had swept the ballot, with an unassailable two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament, giving them the power to override the upper chamber.

TV Asahi said the pairing had won 333 of the 475 seats, while TBS put the figure at 328.

Abe, 60, was only halfway through his four-year term when he called the vote last month.

The first two of his ‘three arrows’ of Abenomics — monetary easing and fiscal stimulus — have largely hit their targets; the once-painfully high yen has plunged, giving exporters a boost, and stocks have rocketed.

Published in Dawn December 15th , 2014