The makeup of Japan’s future government was undetermined on Monday following voters’ reprimand of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s scandal-tainted coalition in a weekend snap election, resulting in no party possessing a definitive mandate to govern the world’s fourth-largest economy.
The uncertainty caused the yen to fall to a three-month low. This occurs as Japan confronts economic challenges, a volatile security situation intensified by an assertive China and a nuclear-capable North Korea, and only one week prior to U.S. voters participating in another unpredictable election.
“We cannot allow not even a moment of stagnation as we face very difficult situations both in our security and economic environments,” Ishiba said at a news conference on Monday, pledging to continue as premier.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito secured 215 seats in the lower house of parliament, a decrease from 279, as voters penalised the incumbents due to a financing scandal and a cost-of-living crisis. Two cabinet ministers and Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii were defeated in their electoral bids.
The major win of the evening, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), secured 148 seats, an increase from the previous 98, however remained significantly below the 233-seat majority.
“It seems unlikely that he (Ishiba) will survive to lead a new government as prime minister … though it is possible he could stay on as caretaker,” said Tobias Harris, founder of Japan Foresight, a political risk advisory firm.
The LDP has governed Japan for nearly the entirety of its post-war history, and the outcome was its most unfavourable election since it temporarily relinquished power in 2009 to a predecessor of the CDPJ.
(Source: Reuters)
