TOKYO: Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi is almost certain to become Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday after the right-wing opposition Japan Innovation Party agreed to back her premiership.
Ishin’s leader and Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura confirmed the alliance during a press conference in the western Japanese city on Monday.
The coalition deal includes specific policy implementation plans such as a 10% reduction in lawmaker numbers according to Ishin’s other boss Fumitake Fujita.
Investors’ anticipation of a deal that could lead to higher government spending weakened the yen and pushed Japanese stocks to a record high.
The cooperation agreement would deliver a combined 231 seats in parliament’s dominant lower house.
This would fall two seats short of a majority but ensures Takaichi likely wins the parliamentary vote to pick Japan’s next prime minister.
She will still need to court support from other opposition groups to govern effectively particularly for an upcoming supplementary budget.
The expected deal with Ishin follows the collapse of the LDP’s 26-year coalition with Komeito which ended after the ruling party picked Takaichi as its new leader.
Komeito’s abrupt withdrawal triggered talks among opposition parties that could have derailed her premiership ambitions.
Ishin’s decision to side with the LDP ends that possibility and keeps the party in power for the first time in more than a decade.
Takaichi a fiscal dove has called for higher spending and tax cuts to cushion consumers from rising inflation.
She has criticised the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates according to her economic policy statements.
Nomura Securities strategist Fumika Shimizu noted expectations for Takaichi’s economic policies appear to be facilitating rising share prices and a weaker yen.
Some analysts say Ishin which advocates for small government and spending cuts could restrain some of Takaichi’s spending ambitions.
Takaichi wants to revise Japan’s pacifist postwar constitution to recognise the role of its military.
A regular visitor to the Yasukuni war shrine she wants higher defence spending to deter neighbouring China.
She has also called for stricter immigration rules and opposes social policies such as allowing women to retain their surnames after marriage.
Ishin will not take up a post in Takaichi’s government at least until it is clear that the partnership with the LDP is working.
Yoshimura stated that rather than asking for a ministerial post they want to first focus on realising their policies as part of the ruling coalition. – Reuters
