TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese lawmakers retained Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as leader on Monday after his scandal-ridden coalition lost its parliamentary majority in lower house elections last month.
His Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito won the most seats in the election but lost the majority they had held since 2012, leaving him dependent on smaller opposition parties to push through his agenda policy.
Monday's vote in Parliament, broadcast on television, resulted in a second round for the first time in 30 years, with no candidate able to secure a majority in the first round.
Shigeru Ishiba ended up winning by collecting 221 votes out of the 465 seats in the lower house, far ahead of his closest opponent, former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party.
Japan will hold elections next year for the less powerful upper house, where the ruling coalition's slim majority could also be at risk if Shigeru Ishiba fails to restore public confidence in his administration, which has been shaken by a scandal concerning unregistered donations to MPs.
His next challenge is to draw up a supplementary budget for the fiscal year that ends in March, under pressure from voters and opposition parties, to increase social spending and take measures to offset rising taxes. price.
Shigeru Ishiba also has a series of international commitments, such as the G20 summit to be held in Brazil on November 18-19. He tries to organize a stopover in the United States to meet Donald Trump.
Some Japanese officials fear that Donald Trump will again impose protectionist trade measures and that he will reactivate demands for reimbursement of the cost of stationing American forces in the country.
These questions were largely ironed out during Donald Trump's first term, from 2017 to 2021, by the president's close ties with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – a bond Shigeru Ishiba appears keen to reestablish.
Shigeru Ishiba must now lead a fragile minority government as Donald Trump regains control in the United States, tensions rise with rivals China and North Korea, and domestic pressure mounts to rein in the cost of the life.
(Reporting by John Geddie, Tim Kelly and Yoshifumi Takemoto; French version by Mara Vîlcu, edited by Kate Entringer)
