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Sanae Takaichi has moved a step closer to becoming Japan’s first female prime minister, after her party reportedly agreed to form a new coalition with a minor party.
Officials on Monday confirmed media reports that Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP) would join forces with the rightwing Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation party), which shares her hawkish stance on China and opposition to mass migration.
“Today we will sign the agreement to launch a coalition government,” Hirofumi Yoshimura, Ishin’s co-leader, told reporters, adding that the agreement would be formalised later in the day.
“After giving it careful thought last night, I telephoned President Takaichi this morning to reach a coalition agreement. I conveyed that we should work together to move Japan forward.”
The deal ends a fortnight of uncertainty over Takaichi’s attempt to become Japan’s first female prime minister – a post she was expected to fill after winning a vote to lead the LDP earlier this month after the resignation of the outgoing prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.
But her bid was almost derailed when the LDP’s partner of 26 years, Komeito, left the coalition, triggering an unsuccessful attempt by opposition parties to choose a unified candidate who would lead a rainbow coalition.
Komeito, which is backed by the Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai, opposes Takaichi’s hawkish views on security and said the LDP had failed to address a damaging funding scandal.
The scandal, combined with the cost-of-living crisis, contributed to two bruising elections for the LDP in the past 12 months in which the then ruling coalition lost its majorities in both houses of parliament.
MPs will vote for a new prime minister – Japan’s fifth in as many years – on Tuesday.
With a combined 231 seats, the new coalition are still two seats short of a majority in the powerful lower house, but Takaichi is the strong favourite to win since she will only need more support than the other candidate if there is a runoff vote.
Her expected appointment will come just days before Donald Trump arrives in Japan for a two-day visit, and Takaichi makes her international debut as prime minister at the Apec summit in South Korea.
The Ishin leadership is hoping to win concessions in return for its decision to prop up an LDP-led administration. Yoshimura has described as “absolute requirements” his party’s demands to make Osaka – where Ishin has its base – a secondary capital in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency in Tokyo, and to reform social security.
Ishin has also called for the 10% consumption (sales) tax to be abolished for food, and for a ban on corporate and organisational donations to political parties – a demand opposed by many in the LDP, the Kyodo news agency said.
Despite the coalition breakthrough, Takaichi, a hardline conservative who opposes same-sex marriages and reigning female empresses, will inherit a minority government dependent on opposition groups to pass legislation, including an upcoming supplementary budget.
Takaichi has called for higher spending and tax cuts to help consumers through rising inflation – policies that could quickly lead to friction with Ishin, which supports small government and lower spending.
Like her mentor, Shinzo Abe, Takaichi wants to revise Japan’s “pacifist” postwar constitution to formally recognise the role of its military, known as the self-defence forces. She is a regular visitor to Yasukuni, a controversial war shrine in Tokyo that some of Japan’s neighbours view as a symbol of its wartime aggression.
She has also called for stricter rules on immigration – an issue that has risen up the political agenda in Japan amid record levels of migration and inbound tourism.
Wires contributed reporting
