Kisan News November 11 (Editor Maran) Monday, Japan held a special session to elect a prime minister, the current prime minister, Ishiba Shigeru, defeated his opponent, will continue to serve as the Prime Minister of Japan, and reorganize his cabinet.

According to the process, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors in Japan voted on the prime minister in succession. In the vote, if a candidate obtains a majority of 233 votes, they are declared the winner. However, in the first round of voting, all candidates who received votes did not obtain the required number of votes, so the two candidates with the most votes entered the final round of voting.

The two candidates who entered the final round of voting in this round are Ishiba Shigeru and the leader of Japan's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party for the People, Yukio Edano. In the final round of voting, Ishiba Shigeru defeated Yukio Edano with 221 to 160.

This also means that the previous cabinet members of Ishiba Shigeru will be reappointed, but Ishiba Shigeru must replace three cabinet members who have lost their seats or been influenced by the election results.

After winning, Ishiba Shigeru stated that he will treat all parties with sincerity, and it is important to ensure that Japan is a peaceful country and that the lives of the Japanese people can be improved. On this point, the Liberal Democratic Party is in line with the demands of other parties.

Minority Government

Ishiba Shigeru will form a minority government, which means the new government will be constrained by opposition groups. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito coalition lost their majority in the election on October 27, marking their worst performance since 2009, which is the fundamental reason why the position of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is threatened in this case.

In the future governance, the LDP-Komeito alliance needs to garner support from some opposition parties in order to achieve important legislation, including budget bills providing funds for economic stimulus plans.

Among them, the most likely to cooperate is the Democratic Party for the People of Japan, whose political lineage is closer to the Liberal Democratic Party and whose number of seats can satisfy the majority needs of the LDP-Komeito alliance.

However, Masaki Taniguchi, a political science professor at the University of Tokyo, said that Yoshihide Suga must make some concessions to the opposition parties in order to manage a minority government effectively. But this could trigger calls from within the LDP to replace Yoshihide Suga. He expects this situation to arise after the annual budget proposal is approved.

Furthermore, the reappointment of Donald Trump as President of the United States poses a greater risk for Yoshihide Suga. Trump previously called for Japan to pay more for hosting U.S. troops in Japan.

Editor/ping