Can Abe last his 4-year term?

Given Japan's sagging economy and mounting doubts, incumbent PM must play by the rules and improve ties with neighbors to succeed

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to be in power until 2018 after his coalition won a big victory in the Dec 14 snap election. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner, the Komeito, won 326 of the 475 seats in the lower house of parliament, gaining a two-thirds "super-majority".

The election result shows Japanese voters had only two options: zero or minus. Voting for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, whose incompetent rule ended two years ago, would be a "minus" choice, making the LDP the better deal. Also, the turnout dropped to a record low of 52.38 percent, indicating that many voters favoring certain candidates had voluntarily relinquished their voting rights.

Confident that the public approved of his economic policies, known as "Abenomics", Abe appeared overly panglossian in a televised interview after the election, when the truth is that "Abenomics" is self-contradictory and has failed to yield results. Abe's economic policies generated very limited stimulation in Japan's economy. Aimed at ending deflation and generating growth, Abe's "three arrows" did help the stock market rally and wages increase, but they couldn't curb the prices of many commodities from shooting up drastically and creating a considerable financial burden for many Japanese.

The 21 seats won by the Japan Communist Party in the election - against the eight it won the last time - could be seen as a big leap for the party. By voting for a party that has the least chance to form a government, many voters not only protested against "Abenomics", but also showed how desperately they want Japan to emerge out of recession.

But Abe has earned two more years (than he would have without the election) in office. The fact that the opposition DPJ has not yet recovered from the defeat two years ago, "Abenomics" has not proved totally disastrous, and that he "sincerely requested" to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month helped Abe regain some of his lost public trust.