party in power loses majority in elections – Observer

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party (PDL) lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in general elections, for the first time since 2009, according to official results released this Tuesday.

A PDL coalition (conservative) with ally Komeito On Sunday, it won 215 places out of a total of 465 in the House of Representatives, insufficient to guarantee an absolute majority of 233 deputies.

After the first projections were released on Monday, Ishiba promised to “initiate fundamental financing and policy reforms” in the LDPpunished at the polls by high inflation in the country and a financial scandal.

“The biggest factor is the suspicion, distrust and anger that has not gone away regarding the problem of funding and politics”the prime minister told the press, referring to the scandal that shook the PDL

The financial scandal, which had already contributed to the unpopularity of former prime minister Fumio Kishida, led the PDL to punish several dozen members for failing to declare the equivalent of several million euros, raised through ticket sales for fundraising nights. of funds.

Ishiba also assured that he intends to remain in office despite the electoral setback, so as not to create a “political vacuum”.

Without an absolute majority with the coalition partner, the PDL will have to look for other allies or form a precarious minority governmentas the opposition remains too fragmented to propose an alternative.

This result will be practically unprecedented in the history of the PDL, which has managed to remain in power almost uninterruptedly since 1955.

Ishiba, 67, who became prime minister on October 1, called early elections and promised voters “a new Japan”, with a program to strengthen security and defense, increase support for low-income families and revitalization of the Japanese rural world.