Police pledge thorough investigation into security flaws as polls open for upper house elections amid increased police presence
Police in Japan have admitted there were “problems” with security for, as voters went to the polls for upper house elections two days after the former prime minister was assassinated on the campaign trail.
Voter turnout as of 10am was 6.18%, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said, up from 5.65% at the same time in the previous upper house election in 2019. Media said 15.3% of voters had cast absentee ballots in advance.The last hours of campaigning saw an increased police presence around figures such as prime minister Fumio Kishida when he appeared at a campaign event in a city south-west of Tokyo.
On Saturday, Japan mourned its longest-serving premier and well-wishers gathered to pay their respects, with senior politicians dressed in black arriving at Abe’s Tokyo residence on Saturday to offer condolences. At the scene of Abe’s murder, 52-year-old Kayoko Ueda wiped away tears and described herself as “distraught”. “I couldn’t believe something like this could actually happen in Japan,” she said.
Footage of the attack showed that Yamaguchi was able to approach Abe from behind without being intercepted, and draw a weapon from a bag. He appeared to fire two shots, each producing a cloud of smoke.
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