For the first time since 2009

Japan’s ruling party falls short of an absolute majority

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

(Bild: APA/AFP)

In Japan, the long-standing ruling party LDP has failed to achieve an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections for the first time since 2009, according to forecasts. Whether the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its previous coalition partner Komeito will achieve a majority in government was still unclear on Sunday, according to forecasts by TV station NHK based on post-election polls.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had called new elections shortly after taking office at the beginning of October in order to secure support for his reform course. The coalition of the LDP and the center-right Komeito party had a comfortable majority of 288 seats in the previous parliament. Should the coalition fall short of the required majority of 233 seats, this would be a severe setback for Japan's LDP, which has ruled almost uninterruptedly since 1955.

Downward trend due to high inflation and corruption scandal 
The party's popularity has suffered from high inflation and, most recently, from a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of Ishiba's predecessor Fumio Kishida.

Fumio Kishida's corruption scandal has hit the LDP hard.

(Bild: AFP/Toru Hanai)

LDP wants to increase birth rate
The 67-year-old Ishiba has announced his intention to revitalize economically weaker regions and to counter the declining population in Japan with family-friendly measures such as flexible working hours. He also spoke out in favor of a regional military alliance along the lines of NATO - but also said that this would "not happen overnight".

Possible resignation of the head of government
Ishiba has set himself the goal of achieving the 233 seats required for a majority. Failure to achieve this would jeopardize his position in the LDP. He would then have to find other coalition partners or lead a minority government. Local media speculated that Ishiba could even resign immediately in order to take responsibility. This would make him the Japanese head of government with the shortest term in office since the end of the Second World War.