The unpopular Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ihiba expressed his intention to stay in power despite the stab in the senatorial elections on Sunday, July 20. He no longer has the majority in any of the two rooms in Parliament.
During Sunday’s elections, which renewed 125 of the 248 seats in the upper room, the Democratic Liberal Party (PLD, Conservative Law) of Shigeru Ishiba and his Komeito ally (Center-Droit) won only 47 seats for them, according to the official results informed Monday by NHK public television and other media.
Although superior to the initial projections of the local media, this result remains below the 50 seats necessary for the two parties to maintain their majority. They will only have 122 senators, even if the very fragmented opposition does not seem capable of forming an alternative majority. What exacerbates speculation about a renunciation of Shigeru Ihiba, 68, in office for only ten months.
“I think I have to guarantee my responsibility”
When asked Sunday night about his intention to remain in his place, the prime minister responded to local media: “That’s all.”
“Changes in the external environment, such as the international situation, or climatic disasters, cannot wait for the political situation to improve,” said Shigeru ishiba during a press conference on Monday.
“For this reason, although I am fully aware of our deep responsibility in the result of the elections, so as not to paralyze political issues, I think I must ensure that my responsibility as a party has compiled most of the votes,” he said.
For Takeshi Nemoto, 80, a PLD activist, interviewed by AFP, the choice of a new leader “would be a fight lost in advance for the party” and would also complicate discussions on customs taxes with the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
An “unprecedented situation since World War II”
The government’s coalition is already in the minority of the lower chamber of Parliament, for a debacle in the early legislative elections of the fall, which Shigeru ishiba himself convened after having taken the head of the PLD in September. The PLD governs Japan in an almost deep way since 1955, despite the frequent changes of leaders.
Japan is now entering unknown land, with a government in the minority in the two cameras of Parliament, an unprecedented situation since World War II, “recalls Torou Yoshida, professor of Political Science at the University of Doshisha.
The Constitutional Democratic Party (central-left), the main opposition force, has won 22 seats and the Democratic Party (centrist) 17 seats. Above all, the Populist Anti-Inmigration Party Sanseeito, with the slogan “Japan first”, made a strong advance with 14 seats won in the upper room, against two before.
Due to their absence of a majority in the diet, the PLD and Komeito had to commit to the opposition so that their texts vote, despite the fact that the economic situation darkens. Inflation remains strong (+3.3% in June outside fresh products), driven by a vertiginous roam in rice prices, which doubled in a year.
To relieve the inflationary impact, Shigeru ishiba has extended housing aid, extended to energy subsidies and has pledged to pour citizens’ aid controls. The authorities have also published part of the strategic reserves of rice for lower prices, without success at the moment.
In addition, Donald Trump’s customs offensive made automotive sales to the United States, a sector that represents 8% of the work in the archipelago.
The threat of the generalized American surcharge of 25% on August 1 weakens the Japanese economic fabric, very dependent on exports. While Japanese negotiator Ryosei Akazawa was seven times to the United States, conversations with Washington get bother.
The financial markets are concerned, they, the budgetary derivations, the masses of the recovery plans and the help of the ishiba government that aggravate the already heavy debt. Several tokyo bond emissions have been rejected in recent months, reached Japanese rates.
Source: BFM TV
