Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba says he will remain in office despite election setback | Elections News

Sunday’s early elections were the ruling party’s worst result in fifteen years, according to exit polls and the media.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office despite a blow in Sunday’s snap elections, which he himself called to gain more support for his party.

Ishiba told reporters on Monday that he would not allow a “political vacuum” to emerge after Japan’s ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority in a significant defeat for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which led the country has ruled almost continuously since 1955.

Ishiba, 67, held the vote a few days after taking office on October 1. But voters, angry over a funding scandal, punished the LDP by reducing it to 191 seats, down from 259 in the 465-member lower house. LDP’s coalition partner Komeito won 24 seats.

The early elections were the ruling coalition’s worst performance in 15 years, according to exit polls and results reported by national broadcaster NHK and other media. The yen hit a three-month low as the results were announced.

Nevertheless, Ishiba said: “I want to fulfill my duty by protecting people’s lives, and protecting Japan.”

“People’s suspicion, mistrust and anger over the slush fund scandal – which saw LDP earn pocket money from fundraising events and scuttle his predecessor Fumio Kishida – played a role in the election outcome, Ishiba said.

“I will implement fundamental reforms on the issue of money and politics,” Ishiba stressed, reiterating that voters had passed a “severe judgment” on the party.

Japanese media had previously speculated that if the LDP lost its majority, Ishiba could resign and become the country’s shortest-serving prime minister since the end of World War II.

The head of the LDP’s election committee, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s son Shinjiro Koizumi, resigned on Monday.

What now?

Ishiba is expected to try to lead a minority government, with the divided opposition unlikely to form its own coalition, analysts said.

But the prime minister said on Monday he was not considering a broader coalition “at this time”. As prescribed by the constitution, the parties now have thirty days to find a grouping that can govern.

The opposition, led by former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), made significant gains, increasing the expected number of seats to 148 from 96 at the last election.

“The voters chose which party would be best suited to implement political reforms,” Noda said late on Sunday, adding that the “LDP-Komeito government cannot continue.”

Japan’s government and ruling coalition officials plan to convene a special session of parliament on Nov. 11 to elect the prime minister, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing multiple unnamed sources.

“Lawmakers who aligned themselves with (former Prime Minister Shinzo) Abe were given cold shoulders under Ishiba, so they could potentially seize the opportunity to retaliate,” Yu Uchiyama, a political science professor at the University of Tokyo, told AFP news agency.

“But at the same time, now that the number of LDP seats has been reduced so much, they might take the high road and support Ishiba for the time being, because they think this is not the time for infighting,” he added.