Japan: Japanese Prime Minister under pressure after legislative elections

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba finds himself in deep political trouble Monday after the historic defeat of the ruling coalition, which was projected to lose its majority following disastrous legislative elections.

In the wake of his coming to power on October 1, Shigeru Ishiba called an early vote, hoping to consolidate his power by strengthening the position of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost without interruption for seven decades.

“Severely judged”

But according to the national television channel NHK and pending official results, the PLD did not reach the absolute majority of 233 seats on its own, for the first time since 2009.

Worse, projections suggest that the ruling coalition of the LDP and the small Komeito party also failed to secure control of half of the lower house’s 465 seats. The PLD won 191 seats and Komeito 24, according to NHK tallies Monday morning.

“We are being judged harshly,” Shigeru Ishiba, chosen as leader of the LDP precisely because he was considered popular among voters, said Sunday evening, adding that the Japanese people “expressed their strong desire to see the LDP think and become a party that will act in accordance with the will of the people.”

Possible resignation

This sanction by the ballot box is largely attributed to a “slush fund” scandal which shook the PLD. Before the election, local media speculated that in this defeatist scenario, Shigeru Ishiba might resign.

He would then become the shortest-serving prime minister in the country since the end of the Second World War. Shigeru Ishiba is on his 27th day in office on Monday. If he stays, Shigeru Ishiba will have to lead a minority government or seek new coalition partners.

“If we are unable to obtain a majority due to harsh public opinion, we will ask as many people as possible to cooperate with us,” said Shinjiro Koizumi, head of elections at the PLD, from Sunday evening.

The worst in 15 years

During the last general elections, in 2021, the PLD obtained a majority with 259 seats in the powerful lower house of Parliament. Komeito won 32, establishing a comfortable majority.

If the official results confirm it, the loss of the majority by the LDP will be the worst result since it lost power in 2009, before being brought back to power in 2012 by a big victory for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, assassinated in July 2022.

Opinion polls taken before the election had suggested that in many constituencies, LDP candidates were neck and neck with those of the Constitutional Democratic Party (PDC), the second largest in parliament, led by the popular former premier Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

More women elected

The PDC seems to have made considerable progress, with the NHK counting 148 seats against 96 previously, in an assembly where the number of women parliamentarians could reach a record level of 73, again according to the public channel.

Shigeru Ishiba, 67, had vowed not to actively support LDP members involved in the funding scandal that saw party members pocket money at fundraising events and helped sink his party. predecessor Fumio Kishida.

But the opposition rushed to media reports according to which the PLD gave 20 million yen (112,000 francs) to the local sections led by these personalities. “Voters chose the party best able to promote political reforms,” said Yoshihiko Noda on Sunday evening, adding that “PLD-Komeito governance cannot continue.”

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