Japan Ruling Camp Loses Upper House Majority, PM Vows To Stay On
TOKYO, July 21 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Japan's ruling coalition lost its majority in the House of Councillors in Sunday's election, an outcome that will add pressure on embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who vowed to stay on despite yet another heavy blow to his party, Kyodo News Agency reported.
The cards are stacked against Ishiba, with all major opposition parties ruling out joining the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito party in an expanded coalition. Despite his intention to remain as prime minister, calls for Ishiba to resign from within the LDP may grow.
The ruling camp failed to meet its pre-election goal of winning at least 50 of the 125 contested seats to reach the majority threshold in the upper house. The LDP and Komeito now have 122 seats, down from 141 before the election.
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The coalition has now been deprived of majority control in both houses of parliament, the upper house and the House of Representatives -- a very rare situation for a government in postwar Japan.
The LDP appears to have lost favor among some conservative voters, with the right-leaning populist party Sanseito emerging as an alternative.
Despite its "Japanese First" mantra and nationalistic policy agenda targeting foreigners -- seen by critics as xenophobic -- it increased its share of upper house seats from two to 15, a level that enables it to submit bills in the chamber.
As early returns and media projections came in, Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki said that forming a coalition with the ruling camp is "out of the question."
His party, which has engaged in policy coordination with the ruling coalition, holds 22 seats, up sharply from nine.
The leaders of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) took a similarly negative stance on joining the coalition.
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