Komeito‘s โDeparture complicates โขTakaichi‘s Path to Becoming Japan‘s First Female Prime Minister
TOKYO – Sanae Takaichi’s campaign to become Japan’s โnext prime minister faced a significant setback Thursday โas Komeito, a key coalition partner โคof the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), announced it would leave the alliance, โaccording to reports fromโข NHK.The move throws โฃuncertainty into the parliamentary vote and forces Takaichi โคto seek support from alternative sources to secure a โmajority.
The withdrawal of Komeito, traditionally a stabilizing force in Japanese politics, doesn’t necessarily preclude Takaichi from winningโ the premiership, but โit dramatically โincreases the challenge. While she remains the frontrunner, her pathโฃ now requires navigatingโ a more fragmented โขpolitical landscape and forging new alliancesโ on โขa bill-by-bill basis. The LDP and Komeito currently hold 215 โฃseats in the 465-seat โchamber, falling short of the 233 needed for a majority. Komeito’s โexit leavesโค the LDP with โ191 seats.
Nomura โSecurities Chief Strategist Naka Matsuzawa believes Takaichi is still on course to become Japan’s first female prime minister, despite the โcoalition shift.”Temporarily, her government will have to shop for different partners depending on [the] bills it wants to pass,” Matsuzawa โsaeid. The opposition parties are currently not unified aroundโ an alternative candidate.
Komeito’s decision stems โคfrom disagreements over policy and strategy, โand the party has stated it will not support โTakaichi in the upcoming parliamentary vote, Reuters reported, โciting comments from a party official.
Takaichi’s potential premiership arrives during aโ period of economic difficulty โฃfor Japan and heightened geopolitical tensions. She is a staunch advocate for a โmore assertive foreign policy, including โa hardline stance towards China and a potential revision of Article 9โ of Japan’s pacifist constitution. Her past visits to the Yasukuni shrine, a site seen byโ some as glorifying Japan’s wartime past, haveโ already โdrawn criticism from China and South Korea. Her policy platform largely aligns with the conservative,โ pro-abenomics agenda that has characterized the last decade in Japanese politics.
