Abe Aims To Keep Ruling Bloc's Upper House Majority In Summer Poll

TOKYO, JAPAN - JAN. 4: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he aims to maintain his ruling coalition's majority in the upper house election slated for this summer. "To advance politics in a stable way under the coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, I would like the LDP and Komeito to secure a majority in the House of Councillors," Abe said in a New Year's news conference. "I will do the utmost to win that victory." Abe, who concurrently serves as president of the LDP, said he will step up calls for amending the Constitution and make it one of the issues in the election, which could be held in July. "Through such calls, I would like to deepen national debate" about the issue, he said. Abe said he "is not considering at all" dissolving the House of Representatives for a snap general election, amid speculation that elections for both chambers of parliament could be held simultaneously in the summer. At present, the LDP and Komeito have a two-thirds majority in the lower house and a majority in the upper house. Half of the 242 upper house seats come up for election every three years. A lower house election was last held in December 2014, with 475 members elected to four-year terms. But a prime minister can call a snap election before their terms expire.