logo
Japan PM vows to stay on after bruising election defeat

Japan PM vows to stay on after bruising election defeat

The Star4 days ago
Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's Prime Minister and president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), walks in front of a board with red paper roses showing elected candidates at the LDP headquarters, on the day of Upper House election, in Tokyo, Japan July 20, 2025. Franck Robichon/Pool via REUTERS
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese premier Shigeru Ishiba vowed to stay on after his ruling coalition suffered a bruising defeat in upper house elections on Sunday as some of his own party discussed his future and the opposition weighed a no-confidence motion.
In a series of televised remarks as the results came in on Sunday evening, Ishiba told reporters he would remain as prime minister, citing a looming tariff deadline with the United States set to strain the world's fourth largest economy.
Ishiba is due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) where he will formally announce those plans, broadcaster NHK reported.
Analysts say his days may be numbered, having also lost control of the more powerful lower house in elections last year and shedding votes on Sunday to opposition parties pledging to cut taxes and tighten immigration policies.
"The political situation has become fluid and could lead to a leadership change or the reshuffling of the coalition in coming months, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will likely stay to complete the tariff negotiations with the U.S. for now," said Oxford Economics' lead Japan economist Norihiro Yamaguchi.
Facing a voter backlash over rising consumer prices, investors fear his administration will now be more beholden to opposition parties advocating for tax cuts and welfare spending that the world's most indebted country can ill afford.
Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday on Monday, although the yen strengthened and Nikkei futures rose slightly, as the election results appeared to be priced in.
Yields on Japanese government bonds sold off sharply ahead of the ballot as polls showed the ruling coalition - which had been calling for fiscal restraint - was likely to lose its majority in the upper house.
Adding to the economic anxiety, Ishiba's lack of progress in averting tariffs set to be imposed by its biggest trading partner, the United States, on August 1 appears to have frustrated some voters.
"Had the ruling party resolved even one of these issues, it (their approval rate) would have gone up, but we didn't feel anything and it seems like the U.S. would continue to push us around," Hideaki Matsuda, a 60-year-old company manager, said outside Tokyo's bustling Shinjuku station on Monday morning.
POPULIST POLITICS
Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan for most of its post-war history, and coalition partner Komeito returned 47 seats, short of the 50 seats it needed to ensure a majority in the 248-seat upper chamber in an election where half the seats were up for grabs.
The leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ), Yoshihiko Noda, said on Sunday he is considering submitting a vote of non-confidence in the Ishiba administration as the result showed it did not have voters' trust.
The CDPJ returned 22 seats in the ballot, finishing second.
Some senior LDP lawmakers were also quietly voicing doubts over whether Ishiba should stay, according to local media reports on Monday.
Among them was former prime minister Taro Aso, leader of a powerful faction within the ruling party, who said he "couldn't accept" Ishiba staying on, Japan's TV Asahi reported. Senior party members including Aso met on Sunday evening to discuss whether Ishiba should resign, Sankei newspaper reported.
The far-right Sanseito party clocked the biggest gains of the night, adding 14 seats to one elected previously.
Launched on YouTube during the pandemic by spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the party found wider appeal with its 'Japanese First' campaign and warnings about a "silent invasion" of foreigners.
Dragging once-fringe rhetoric into the mainstream, its success could mark the arrival of populist politics in Japan, which until now has failed to take root as it has in the United States and western Europe.
Sanseito's party leader Sohei Kamiya, a former supermarket manager and English teacher, has previously pointed to Germany's AfD and Reform UK as a possible blueprint for future success.
(Reporting by John Geddie, Tim Kelly, Kevin Buckland, Rikako Maruyama and Hiromi Tanoue in Tokyo; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Asian stocks slip from highs, dollar gains as markets brace for crucial week
Asian stocks slip from highs, dollar gains as markets brace for crucial week

The Star

time20 minutes ago

  • The Star

Asian stocks slip from highs, dollar gains as markets brace for crucial week

A woman walks past an electronic screen displaying the stock index prices of Asian countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Issei Kato TOKYO: Asian shares eased from highs on Friday, with Japanese markets retreating from a record peak, as investors locked in profits ahead of a crucial week that includes U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and a host of central bank meetings. The dollar gained against the yen after bouncing off a two-week low on Thursday, helped by some firm U.S. economic data, while Japan's currency was weighed down by political uncertainty amid media reports Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down. Benchmark Japanese government bond yields hovered just below the highest since 2008. Japan's broad Topix index, which had jumped more than 5% over the previous two sessions to reach an all-time high, pulled back 0.7%. The Nikkei slipped 0.5% from Thursday's one-year high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.5% and mainland Chinese blue chips declined 0.2%. Australia's equity benchmark declined 0.5%. At the same time, U.S. S&P 500 futures added 0.2%, after the cash index edged up slightly to a new record closing high overnight, buoyed by robust earnings from Google parent Alphabet. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also marked a record high. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe edged down 0.1%, but remained just below an all-time peak from Thursday. The index is on course for a 1.3% weekly advance, buoyed in large part by optimism for U.S. trade deals with the European Union and China, following an agreement with Japan this week. Next week, in the U.S. alone, investors need to contend with Trump's August 1 deadline for trade deals, a Federal Reserve policy meeting, the closely watched monthly payrolls report, and earnings from the likes of Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft. The Bank of Japan has its own policy announcement on Thursday, and Prime Minister Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party holds a meeting the same day. That's after the European Central Bank held rates steady on Thursday, pausing its easing campaign as it waits to assess any impact from U.S. tariffs. The euro ended the session down 0.2% against a buoyant dollar, and was little changed on Friday at $1.1743. The U.S. currency advanced 0.3% to 147.37 yen, adding to Thursday's 0.4% gain. Trump kept the pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates after a rare presidential visit to the central bank on Thursday, although he said he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields edged down to 4.39% on Friday, effectively erasing an advance on Thursday. Equivalent Japanese government bond yields eased 0.5 basis point to 1.595%, just off this week's high of 1.6%, a level last seen in October 2008. JGB yields have been rising on concerns the political scale is tilting more towards fiscal stimulus, after big gains for opposition parties backing consumption tax cuts in Sunday's upper house election. Pressure is building on the more fiscally hawkish Ishiba to quit after his coalition lost its majority in the vote, after doing the same in lower house elections last October. Gold was flat at around $3,368 per ounce, keeping it on course for a 0.5% rise this week. Brent crude futures gained 0.3% to $69.35 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 0.2% to $66.18 per barrel. - Reuters

Copper prices ease as traders brace for US tariffs
Copper prices ease as traders brace for US tariffs

New Straits Times

timean hour ago

  • New Straits Times

Copper prices ease as traders brace for US tariffs

SINGAPORE: Copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) eased, as traders held back ahead of an Aug 1 deadline when trade duties, including a 50 per cent metal import tariff, are set to start between the US and its trading partners. Three-month copper on the LME was down 0.10 per cent at US$9,867.50 a tonne, as of 0101 GMT on Friday. Still, the contract has climbed 0.92 per cent so far this week and is poised for a second weekly gain. The most-traded copper contract on SHFE receded 0.69 per cent to 79,290 yuan (US$11,083.16) a tonne, but might end the week on a positive note with a 1.16 per cent climb so far. "Market is just quietly waiting for Aug 1 when all the trade tariffs and US copper import tariffs are supposed to roll out, and some missing details may be available by then," a Beijing-based metals analyst at a futures company said. The European Commission said on Thursday a negotiated trade solution with the United States is within reach – while EU members voted to approve counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros (US$109 billion) of US goods in case the talks collapse, and US President Donald Trump would impose 30 per cent tariffs on the EU on August 1. China's Vice Premier He Lifeng will visit Sweden from July 27–30 for a new round of economic and trade talks with US officials, when the deadline on Aug 12 between the two countries may be extended. The premium of COMEX over LME copper stabilised at 29 per cent on Thursday, remaining below the 50 per cent import tariff planned by Trump, as the market awaited confirmation of the August 1 deadline and a list of the copper products to which the levy would apply. LME zinc fell 0.25 per cent to US$2,836.50 a tonne, nickel edged 0.06 per cent lower to US$15,455, while aluminium edged 0.06 per cent higher to US$2,648.50, and tin climbed 0.16 per cent to US$34,680. SHFE tin fell nearly 1.00 per cent to 271,210 yuan a tonne, nickel dropped 0.71 per cent to 123,160 yuan, zinc ebbed 0.70 per cent to 22,820 yuan, while aluminium edged up 0.05 per cent to 20,745 yuan.

Gold ticks up on softer US dollar, heads for weekly gain
Gold ticks up on softer US dollar, heads for weekly gain

New Straits Times

timean hour ago

  • New Straits Times

Gold ticks up on softer US dollar, heads for weekly gain

KUALA LUMPUR: Gold prices inched higher in early Asian trading on Friday, buoyed by an overall weaker US dollar, although signs of progress in trade negotiations between the US and its trading partners kept gains in check. Spot gold was up 0.10 per cent at US$3,371.86 per ounce, as of 0051 GMT. Bullion is up 0.60 per cent this week. US gold futures were little changed at US$3,374.80. The US dollar index was headed for its worst week in a month, making greenback-priced gold less expensive for other currency holders. The European Union and United States now appear to be heading towards a possible trade deal, according to EU diplomats, which would result in a broad 15 per cent tariff on EU goods imported into the US, mirroring a framework agreement Washington struck with Japan. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched record closing highs overnight as signs of easing global trade tensions lifted risk sentiment among investors. Data showed US jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week, signalling a steady labour market despite sluggish hiring making it harder for the unemployed to find work. The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, pausing after seven straight cuts, and offered a modestly upbeat assessment of the euro zone economy. The Federal Reserve is also widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its July 29–30 meeting, but markets continue to price in a potential rate cut in September. SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.24 per cent to 957.09 metric tons on Thursday from 954.80 tons on Wednesday. Spot silver was flat at US$39.10 per ounce, platinum gained 0.40 per cent to US$1,413.55 and palladium climbed 0.80 per cent to US$1,237.35.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store