Mr. Ishiba continues to be Prime Minister, what challenges will await the minority government?

Mr. Ishiba Shigeru, who became Prime Minister of Japan in the election on September 27, has just been re-elected in the vote in the country's Parliament.

Mr. Ishiba Shigeru (standing), President of the LDP, was elected Prime Minister of Japan on November 11. (Source: Kyodo)

NHK television reported that the Japanese parliament held a special session in the early afternoon of January 11 to elect a new prime minister based on the results of the Lower House election held on October 27. In that election, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito Party lost its majority in the legislature.

Predictable results

On the morning of November 11, at an extraordinary cabinet meeting, members of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru's cabinet resigned en masse to pave the way for a parliamentary meeting in the afternoon.

NHK reported that the first round of the Japanese parliament's election for prime minister ended without any candidate receiving a majority of the votes. LDP President Ishiba and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ) President Noda Yoshihiko were the two candidates with the most votes, with 221 and 151 votes respectively.

The election had to go into a second round with two candidates, Ishiba and Noda. According to the results of the second round, LDP President Ishiba won with 221 votes, thereby being re-elected Prime Minister. Meanwhile, CDPJ President Noda came in second with 160 votes. There were 84 invalid ballots due to the inclusion of names of people who did not make it to the second round.

According to NHK , this is the first time in 30 years that the election of Japanese prime minister in the House of Representatives has to go to the second round. Before the vote, experts said that if there were no surprises, Mr. Ishiba would continue to hold the position of head of the Japanese government, due to the dispersion of votes among opposition parties in the House of Representatives, as well as the ruling coalition still holding the majority in the House of Representatives.

On November 11, Prime Minister Ishiba is expected to announce the composition of the new cabinet, which will basically remain the same as the cabinet on October 1 but with adjustments in 3 positions.

Specifically, Mr. Suzuki Keisuke and Mr. Eto Taku will be appointed as Minister of Justice and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, respectively, replacing Mr. Makihara Hideki and Mr. Murakami Seiichiro, the two people who were not elected to the House of Representatives on October 27.

In addition, Mr. Nakano Hiromasa of the Komeito Party will also be appointed as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, replacing Mr. Saito Tetsuo who will move to become Chairman of the Komeito Party.

After the prime minister's inauguration ceremony and cabinet recognition ceremony scheduled to be held in the evening of the same day at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the new cabinet of the Northeast Asian country will be officially established.

New term challenges

Prime Minister Ishiba will face many challenges as he leads a minority government to run the country. (Source: Asahi)

Ishiba Shigeru was re-elected as Japan's prime minister amid a strong showing by the main opposition CDPJ party in the House of Representatives, with former CDJP leader Edano Yukio taking the position of chairman of the House of Representatives Constitutional Committee, the most important legislative body in the Diet.

This means that Mr Ishiba and his cabinet will have to govern as a minority government and the ruling coalition will need to pay more attention to demands from the opposition bloc.

Ahead of the Diet session, the ruling coalition signaled its willingness to cooperate with the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), a small opposition party that emerged from the Oct. 27 lower house election with 28 seats. The LDP and DPP discussed policy coordination, an important step toward securing a stable government.

LDP President Ishiba held separate talks with main opposition CDPJ President Noda and DPP President Tamaki Yuichiro before the Diet session opened, saying that “there will be a sincere approach to all sides” and that “it is important to ensure that Japan is a peaceful country and improve people's lives” - a point of common ground between all three parties.

The most pressing challenge facing Mr Ishiba is drafting a supplementary budget for the fiscal year to March, under pressure from voters and opposition parties to increase welfare spending and measures to subsidise rising prices.

Japan's prime minister is expected to hold a press conference to explain plans for his administration, including working with opposition parties to pass a supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2024.

Ishiba also has a series of international activities, including the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Brazil on November 18-19. As part of this trip, LDP President Ishiba is trying to arrange a stop in the United States to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.

Some Japanese officials worry that Mr. Trump could again hit Tokyo with protectionist trade measures and revive demands that Tokyo pay more for the cost of stationing U.S. forces in the Land of the Rising Sun.

These issues were largely resolved during President Trump’s first term (2017-2021), thanks to his close relationship with then-Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. It appears that Mr. Ishiba wants to restore that relationship.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nhat-ban-ong-ishiba-tiep-tuc-lam-thu-tuong-chong-gai-nao-se-don-cho-chinh-phu-thieu-so-293360.html