DHAKA: Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election on Sunday in a snap poll he had billed as a referendum on his economic policies after early success faded into a recession.

But a low turnout from unenthusiastic voters beset by a heavy snowfall could cast doubt on the endorsement he will claim for ‘Abenomics’ - his signature plan to fix the country’s flaccid economy.

Broadcasters’ exit polls shortly after voting finished showed his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito had swept the ballot, with an unassailable two-thirds majority that will give them the power to override the upper house.

TV Asahi said the pairing had won 333 of the 475 seats, while TBS put the figure at 328, reports The Straits Times.

‘I have been pushing for Abenomics, the policies designed to create jobs and raise salaries,’ Abe told hundreds of voters in Tokyo’s neon-lit Akihabara electronics district on the eve of the election.

‘Japan can be much richer,’ Abe said, sporting a knee-length white windbreaker emblazoned with his campaign slogan: ‘This is the only way’.

Abe, 60, was only halfway through his four-year term when he called the vote last month.

** Japan votes in Abe’s snap election

BDST: 1806 HRS, DEC 14, 2014