Japan’s parliament on Tuesday elected ultra-conservative Sanae Takaichi as its first female prime minister. The next day, the party signed a coalition agreement with a new partner expected to pull the ruling party further to the right.
Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and controversy since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election defeat in July.
Ishiba, who had been prime minister for just one year, resigned along with his cabinet members earlier that day, paving the way for his successor.
In the House of Representatives, which elects the prime minister, Takaichi received 237 votes, four more than the majority, and Yoshiko Noda, leader of the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, received 149 votes. When the results were announced, Takaichi stood up and bowed deeply.
With the opposition party not united, a coalition between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Osaka-based right-wing Nippon Ishin no Kai (Ishin no Kai) secured her appointment as prime minister. Mr. Takaichi’s untested alliance still lacks a majority in both houses of Congress and would need to lobby other opposition parties to pass the bill, a risk that could make Mr. Takaichi’s government unstable and short-lived.
MNA/