Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba clung on Monday even after an election debacle left his coalition without a majority in the upper house, as painful new US tariffs loom.
In Sunday’s election Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously since 1955, and its partner Komeito fell a projected three seats short of retaining a majority in the upper house.
Voters angry at inflation turned to other parties, notably the “Japanese first” Sanseito, which made strong gains with its “anti-globalist” drive echoing the agenda of populist parties elsewhere.
The debacle comes only months after Ishiba’s coalition was forced into a minority government in the more powerful lower house, in the LDP’s worst result in 15 years.
However, asked late on Sunday if he intended to remain in office, Ishiba told local media, “That’s right.”
“Although I’m acutely aware of our grave responsibility for the election results, in order to not let politics become stagnant, I believe I must fulfil my responsibility as the party with the most votes and to the people of the country, while listening carefully and sincerely to the voices of the local people,” Ishiba told a news conference on Monday.
He called the election result “extremely regrettable”.
It was unclear in any case who might step up to replace Ishiba given the LDP’s frequent leadership changes in recent years.
The election saw 125 seats in the 248-seat upper house contested.
The coalition needed 50 of those but local media reported they only won 47, with the LDP winning 39 and Komeito eight, giving them 122 deputies.
Second-placed was the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), which won 22 contested seats, followed by the Democratic Party For the People (DPP) with 17.
The right-wing Sanseito party won 14 seats.
Sanseito wants “stricter rules and limits” on immigration, opposes “radical” gender policies, and wants a rethink on decarbonization and vaccines.
