The Japanese government coalition of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba suffered a big defeat on Sunday in the elections for the Hogerhuis. As a result, the liberal-democratic party (LDP) and the smaller government party Komeito are losing their majority. Ishiba spoke about a “hard result” during a press conference.
During the elections there were 125 seats of the 248 seats in the higher house eligible. Together with government partner Komeito, the LDP needed 50 seats to maintain the coalition lider, but only achieved 47. Ishiba’s LDP was the longest in Japan in the post -war period.
Despite the loss on Monday, Ishiba said that he wants to stay as Prime Minister, because of the negotiations on trading rates with the United States and to be able to tackle other economic issues.
The Japanese government coalition also had to endure a loss in the lower house of parliament in October and could not keep a majority there. According to opinion polls, the cause of the election defeat lies in the dissatisfaction with rising prices and immigration policy.
Japanese First
The radical-right party Sanseito seems to benefit from this sentiment among the Japanese population and was one of the biggest winners, with a win of 14 seats. The Sanseito party was founded during the Coronapandemie and became known via YouTube, where the conspiracy theories spread over vaccinations. Sanseito came with the slogan ‘Japanese First“And warned of a” silent invasion “from foreigners. Sanseito’s party leader Sohei Kamiya is a former supermarket manager and English teacher, and compares his party with the German Alternative Für Deutschland (AfD) and the English Reform UK.
Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ), said on Sunday that he is considering submitting a motion of no confidence to the government of Ishiba. The government would not have received enough faith from the voter, Noda argues. The CDPJ won 22 seats in the elections and became second.