Abenomics gets benefit of the doubt - and a second wind

JAPAN's general election over the weekend produced few surprises. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was returned to office and has succeeded in retaining his coalition's two-thirds majority in the lower house of the Japanese parliament.

He is now set to remain in power until 2018, which will make him Japan's longest-serving prime minister in four decades. This spells many positives for Japan - particularly in terms of policy continuity and stability - but may also raise some concerns.

Mr Abe's calling of a snap election almost a year before his first term was up was at once an act of opportunism and pragmatism. Opportunism, because he surely knew that despite his relatively low approval ratings and still-patchy economic record, there was no viable alternative to his coalition. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has been in disarray, weakened by infighting, a lack of leadership and poor finances. Despite being critical of Mr Abe's policies in a number of areas, the DPJ was unable to come up with any serious alternatives.