Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner yesterday signed a coalition deal, paving the way for Sanae Takaichi to become the nation’s first female prime minister.
The 11th-hour agreement with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) came just a day before the lower house was due to vote on Takaichi’s appointment as the fifth prime minister in as many years.
If she wins, she will take office the same day.
Photo: Reuters
“I’m very much looking forward to working with you on efforts to make Japan’s economy stronger, and to reshape Japan as a country that can be responsible for future generations,” Takaichi told the JIP’s cohead Hirofumi Yoshimura as they signed the deal.
Yoshimura said he was convinced the parties were “on the same page about our passion to move Japan forward.”
Takaichi, 64, seen as a China hawk and traditionalist from the right wing of the LDP, won the party leadership this month. However, her bid to become prime minister was derailed by the collapse of the LDP’s coalition with the Komeito party after 26 years.
Komeito said the LDP had failed to tighten party funding rules following a damaging slush fund scandal.
It was also unnerved by Takaichi’s previous harsh rhetoric on China and her regular visits to a Tokyo shrine that honors Japan’s war dead, including war criminals.
The clock was ticking for Takaichi to be appointed.
US President Donald Trump is due to visit at the end of the month on his way to the APEC summit in South Korea.
Details of a trade deal between Washington and Tokyo remain unresolved, and Trump also wants Japan to stop Russian energy imports and boost defense spending.
The LDP’s new coalition with JIP is still two seats shy of the lower house majority needed for Takaichi to be appointed. However, Takaichi is still likely to win, as in a second-round runoff vote she only needs more support than the other candidate.
The announcement of a new coalition pushed the Nikkei 225 index up more than 3 percent to a new record above 49,000 points.
Mizuho Securities analyst Yutaka Miura said that investors were cheered by hopes of “proactive fiscal policies” by Takaichi, Bloomberg reported.
Takaichi has in the past backed aggressive monetary easing and expanded government spending, aping the “Abenomics” of her mentor, former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
During the leadership campaign, Takaichi toned down her rhetoric on the economy and on China.
Being in a minority in both houses of parliament, the new coalition would need support from other parties to push through legislation.
JIP’s other cohead, Fumitake Fujita, on Sunday said that forming legislative agreements would “remain difficult.”
The JIP wants to lower the consumption tax rate on food to zero, and to abolish corporate and organizational donations, Kyodo News reported on Sunday.
The smaller party is also in favor of reducing the number of lawmakers. Reports say it will not hold any ministerial posts in Takaichi’s Cabinet.
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