“People expected fundamental reform of the LDP but all the measures were half-hearted. They did not completely expel those involved in the slush fund affair. Ishiba didn’t represent genuine renewal, and that’s one of the big reasons why this was the result,” Mori said.
Outgoing prime minister Fumio Kishida.Credit: AP
Before Sunday’s vote, the LDP had a majority in its own right. But this collapsed as counting continued late into the evening, leaving the LDP and Komeito with a combined 215 seats, well short of the 233 required to form a majority. Two cabinet ministers and Komeito’s leader lost their seats.
The main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, rode a wave of support to win 148 seats, up from its previous 98. Other smaller parties could also be part of the negotiations.
The yen plunged to a three-month low on investor uncertainty over possibly weeks of political machinations and horse-trading to form a new government.
For his part, Ishiba conceded the drubbing was “very severe”, telling Japan’s public broadcaster NHK on Sunday: “I don’t think we were able to gain the public’s understanding.”
CDP leader Yoshihiko Noda has already signalled that a fight for the leadership could be on the cards.
The rate of the yen against the US dollar displayed on an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday. The yen fell to its weakest level in almost three months after Japan’s ruling coalition failed to win a majority in parliament at the weekend’s election. Credit: Bloomberg
“If it comes to a situation where we must compete for the prime minister’s job, it’s only natural to go for it,” Noda told Fuji TV.
Tobias Harris, who runs Japan Foresight, a political risk advisory firm in Washington, said one possible outcome was for Ishiba to stay on as a caretaker prime minister in the short term if the parties could not agree on a consensus candidate.
“Whether or not [he] resigns as LDP leader today, it seems unlikely that he will survive to lead a new government as prime minister, the losses being significant enough to make it difficult for him to escape responsibility,” Harris said in a note to subscribers.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of Japan’s Constitutional Democratic Party, has signalled a fight for the leadership is on the cards. Credit: Bloomberg
But with voter turnout hovering at about 53 per cent, replicating the trend of below 60 per cent in the past four general elections, there is clearly a deep public malaise towards the country’s political class.
“These election returns suggest that Japan’s longer-term political crisis is far from over. Lower turnout suggests that almost a majority of voters remain so dismayed by their choices that they are choosing to stay home instead of vote,” Harris said.
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