3 By-Election Winners Join Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe Faction

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:29 JST, April 28, 2023

Three lawmakers who won in Sunday’s by-elections for the upper house and lower house on Thursday joined the Abe faction, the Liberal Democratic Party’s largest bloc.

Nobuchiyo Kishi from Yamaguchi Constituency No. 2, Shinji Yoshida from Yamaguchi Constituency No. 4 and Aki Shirasaka from the Oita constituency enrolled in the Abe faction, increasing the number of its members to 99.

Eri Arfiya, who was elected from Chiba Constituency No. 5, on Thursday joined the Aso faction, which became the party’s sole second-largest faction with 55 members, surpassing the Motegi faction with 54 members.

Upper house member Toshiyuki Ochi, who was elected in July’s proportional representation election system with the support of a political group called Zenkoku Shoko Seiji Renmei, joined the Kishida faction on the same day. The Kishida faction now has 46 members.