As voters weigh the ruling party’s funding scandals and stagnant economy, they are also skeptical of the opposition’s ability and experience.

Japan is voting in its closest election in years, with new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) facing their worst result since 2009 due to a funding scandal and inflation.

The PLD and its longtime partner Komeito could lose their comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament in Sunday’s election, opinion polls suggest.

A record 314 women out of a total of 1,344 candidates are running for office. Polls close at 20:00 (11:00 GMT), with early results expected in a few hours.

Ishiba, 67, took office on October 1, replacing his predecessor Fumio Kishida, who resigned after protests over slush fund practices among LDP lawmakers. Ishiba immediately announced a snap election in hopes of drumming up more support.

But the PDL is facing its worst result since 2009 – possibly plunging Japan into political uncertainty, although a change of government was unexpected.

Ishiba has set a goal of retaining 233 seats for the ruling coalition between the LDP and its Buddhist-backed junior partner Komeito, a majority in the 465-member lower house, the most powerful of Japan’s bicameral parliament.

In his final campaign speeches on Saturday, Ishiba apologized for his party’s mismanagement of funds and pledged to “start over as an equal, fair, humble and honest party.” He said only the LDP ruling coalition can lead Japan with its reliable experience and policies.

But voters in the world’s fourth-largest economy were rattled by rising prices and the fallout from a party slush fund scandal that helped sink former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“I made my decision primarily by looking at their economic policies and measures to reduce inflation,” Tokyo voter Yoshihiro Uchida, 48, told AFP on Sunday. “We voted for people who are likely to make our lives better.”

Meanwhile, Japan’s largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), is expected to make significant gains. Its centrist leader, former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, said Sunday’s election was a rare chance for a change of government.

Local media speculated that Ishiba might even resign immediately to take charge, becoming Japan’s shortest post-war prime minister.

The current record is held by Naruhiko Higashikuni, who served for 54 days – four days more than British leader Liz Truss in 2022 – immediately after Japan’s 1945 defeat in World War II.

“PLD politics is all about quickly implementing policies for those who give them a lot of money,” Noda, 67, told supporters on Saturday.

“But those in vulnerable positions … have been ignored,” he added, accusing the government of providing insufficient support to survivors of an earthquake in central Japan.

Analysts suggest Ishiba may fall short of his target, although the LDP was expected to remain the main party in Japan’s parliament as voters are skeptical of the opposition’s ability and experience.

Ishiba’s party is also being tested to break the legacy of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe’s policies have focused on security, trade and industry but have largely ignored equality and diversity, and his nearly eight-year tenure has led to corruption, experts say.

“Public criticism against the slush fund scandal has intensified and will not go away easily,” said Izuru Makihara, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Tokyo. “There is a growing sense of fairness and people are rejecting the privilege of politicians.”