Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will form a new coalition with the Japan Innovation Party (Ishin), Kyodo news agency reported, paving the way for LDP leader Sanae Takaichi to be instated as prime minister.
The LDP’s previous 26-year coalition with the party Komeito split earlier this month during a dispute over proposed campaign funding rules. The vote to select Japan’s prime minister will be on Tuesday.
Ishin had also been asked to form a coalition with the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the largest opposition party, as well as the Democratic Party for the People (DPP). “We told the CDP and DPP that Ishin would find it difficult to vote for their leaders for prime minister,” Ishin deputy leader Fumitake Fujita said on Friday.
The LDP and Ishin will sign their coalition agreement today, per Kyodo. Ishin’s members will not be part of Takaichi’s cabinet, unlike previous agreements between the LDP and Komeito.
The LDP has reportedly agreed to Ishin’s request to reduce the number of seats in Japan’s House of Representatives by 10%.
An LDP-Ishin coalition will have 231 seats in the House, two short of a majority. If Takaichi is not chosen with a majority in the first round of voting, the vote will proceed to a runoff.
The previous LDP-Komeito coalition split after Takaichi would not commit to Komeito and the DPP’s 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.
Ishin called for the LDP to accept a full ban on corporate political donations last week.
Takaichi was chosen as the LDP’s leader in early October upon Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation. A conservative who supports higher government spending and tax cuts, she is set to be Japan’s first female prime minister.
Related content
