Japan
Japan's ruling coalition splits before vote on new PM
Japan’s ruling coalition has split, with the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) junior partner Komeito saying it would leave after a disagreement over proposed campaign donation rules. The LDP chose Sanae Takaichi as its new leader earlier this month, though the parliamentary vote to elect her as prime minister has now been delayed until 20 October. Komeito’s lawmakers will vote for its party leader, Tetsuo Saito, as prime minister, Saito said. “We have cooperated over the last 26 years, including when we were out of power. That this relationship is coming to such a conclusion is extremely regrettable,” said Takaichi. In March, Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) drafted a proposal to limit corporate donations to lawmakers and ban donations to political groups led by politicians. The LDP is the largest beneficiary of corporate donations, and Takaichi did not commit to backing the proposal. Saito also cited the LDP’s handling of a 2023-2024 scandal where members of the party were found storing more than JP¥600 million (A$6 million) collected from fundraising events in illegal slush funds. The LDP-Komeito coalition has lost its majority in both Japan’s upper and lower houses in elections over the past
Takaichi to be Japan's first female PM, wins party vote
Conservative Sanae Takaichi is set to become Japan’s first female prime minister after winning the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leadership election on Saturday. The leadership contest was triggered when Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned in September, following the ruling coalition’s loss of its majority in July’s upper house elections. Takaichi held several cabinet positions, including interior affairs and economic security, in the governments of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida. “We must tackle the issues that many citizens are currently facing as quickly as possible. I’d like to really focus my efforts on measures to counter rising prices,” said Takaichi after the vote. Takaichi took first place in the leadership contest’s first round of voting, and defeated the more moderate Minister of Agriculture Shinjiro Koizumi in a runoff with 185 to 156 votes. She was also a candidate in the 2021 and 2024 LDP leadership elections. A parliamentary session to elect Takaichi as prime minister is expected in mid-October, and cabinet appointees will likely be named this week. She will serve out the remainder of Ishiba’s term, which will expire in 2027. She has said she is open to expanding the LDP’s minority coalitio