TOKYO Cheap Bruno Caboclo Shirt , July 3 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffering an historic clobbering against newly-formed Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites First party) in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election on Sunday has severely damaged the very foundation of the LDP, with its future course and leadership now uncertain, experts here said.
The LDP being on the receiving end of its worst defeat in the history of the Tokyo municipal election has triggered a whole lot of soul-searching within the ruling camp, while Tomin First no Kai now dominating the assembly with 49 of its 127 seats and 79 seats along with its allies, has profound implications stemming far beyond just local politics, pundits attest.
"The public's overwhelming support for Koike and her new party is not only a testament to their faith in the Tokyo governor Cheap Harry Giles Shirt , but it is also a very clear message sent to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party that they are dissatisfied with the way the party has been handling a number of contentious matters recently," Asian affairs commentator Kaoru Imori told Xinhua.
"The LDP and senior officials have been embroiled in a number of scandals recently and the public feel they have not fully accounted for themselves and used their majority to simply push their own agenda. What we've seen in this election, is the public is not as passive as perhaps it used to be in sticking with the status quo," he said.
He went on to explain that as much as the public were voting for Koike, they were also voting against the LDP for its autocratic style of "single party-esque" politics and its tendency to "force its issues" without enough parliamentary deliberation with opposition parties or suitable explanations to the public.
Experts have also been quick to highlight the fact that the LDP's defeat was so damaging for the party that Hakubun Shimomura, who heads the party's Tokyo chapter Cheap Vince Carter Shirt , had little choice but to step down from the post to take responsibility for the historic defeat.
Equally, the future course of the LDP is now in question, based on Sunday's election drubbing, as the Tokyo metropolitan assembly elections are often a barometer for the future of national politics, and, while Tomin First no Kai may not be entering national politics immediately Cheap Georgios Papagiannis Shirt , some pundits believe it won't be long until the LDP has to contend with the new party on a national level.
Along with the possibility of a new opposition party or opposition coalition with some political teeth in the Diet in the future, to rein in the LDP, in the nearer term the election loss and the implications ahead have shaken the very core of the ruling party, analysts have said.
"The current course of the LDP in light of the election loss and recent scandals and gaffe's by its lawmakers may well impact its leadership election in September next year, as well as the next lower house election to be held by December 2018," Imori said.