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Japan govt loses upper house majority in elections: Media projections

Japan govt loses upper house majority in elections: Media projections

LBCI3 days ago
Japan's ruling coalition lost its majority in upper house elections on Sunday, local media projected, in a disastrous result for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner Komeito won around 41 of the 125 seats contested, short of the 50 needed to retain a majority, Nippon TV and TBS reported, with the populist party Sanseito projected to have made strong gains.
AFP
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23 Jul 2025 08:55 AM Japan PM Plans To Resign After Election Debacle
23 Jul 2025 08:55 AM Japan PM Plans To Resign After Election Debacle

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23 Jul 2025 08:55 AM Japan PM Plans To Resign After Election Debacle

Having done a trade deal with US President Donald Trump, Japan's prime minister will soon announce his resignation, reports said Wednesday, after his latest election debacle left his coalition without a majority now in both houses of parliament. The reports said Shigeru Ishiba had conveyed his intention to step down to those close to him, following the announcement Wednesday of a US-Japan trade deal. Sunday's upper house election was calamitous for Ishiba's centre-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously since 1955. Voters angry at inflation turned to other parties, notably the "Japanese first" Sanseito, whose "anti-globalist" drive echoes the agenda of populist movements elsewhere. Ishiba plans to vacate the top job by the end of August, the Mainichi daily reported. The Yomiuri newspaper said he would announce his resignation in July but did not give details of when he would leave office. These and other reports said calls for the 68-year-old to depart had grown louder within the LDP since the results of the upper house election. But he communicated his decision after striking a trade deal with Washington that cut a threatened 25-percent tariff to 15 percent ahead of an August 1 deadline. In the election on Sunday, the LDP and its junior partner Komeito fell three seats short of retaining a majority. It came only months after Ishiba's coalition was forced into a minority government in the more powerful lower house, in the LDP's worst result in 15 years. Ishiba won the party leadership in September, on his fifth try, to become the 10th LDP prime minister since 2000 -- all of them men. Since the October snap lower house election, the ruling coalition has been forced to bargain with opposition parties to pass legislation. After years of stagnant or falling prices, consumers in the world's fourth-largest economy have been squeezed by inflation since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In particular, the price of rice has doubled, while resentment has also lingered over an LDP funding scandal. "I really hope things will get better in Japan, but the population is declining, and I think living in Japan will get tougher and tougher," Naomi Omura, an 80-year-old from Hiroshima, told AFP in Tokyo on Wednesday. "It is disappointing that Japan cannot act more strongly" towards the United States" but "I think it was good that they agreed on a lower tariff", she said. Tetsuo Momiyama, an 81-year-old Tokyo resident, said Ishiba "is finished already". "It's a good timing for him to go," Momiyama said.

World markets mixed, Japan shares dip after election leaves Ishiba's future in doubt
World markets mixed, Japan shares dip after election leaves Ishiba's future in doubt

Nahar Net

timea day ago

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World markets mixed, Japan shares dip after election leaves Ishiba's future in doubt

World shares were mixed on Tuesday after U.S. stock indexes inched to more records at the start of a week of profit updates from big U.S. companies. Germany's DAX lost 0.9% to 24,086.56 and the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 0.6% to 7,753.96. Britain's FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged at 9,015.35. The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged. In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark surged and then fell back as it reopened from a holiday Monday following the ruling coalition's loss of its upper house majority in Sunday's election. The Nikkei 225 shed 0.1% to 39,774.92. Analysts said the market initially climbed as investors were relieved that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed to stay in office despite the setback. But the election's outcome has added to political uncertainty and left his government without the heft needed to push through legislation. A breakthrough in trade talks with the U.S. might win Ishiba a reprieve, but so far there's been scant sign of progress in negotiating away the threat of higher tariffs on Japan's exports to the U.S. beginning Aug. 1. "Relief may be fleeting. Ishiba's claim to leadership now rests on political duct tape, and history isn't on his side. The last three LDP leaders who lost the upper house didn't last two months," Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.5% to 25,130.03, while the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.6% to 3,581.86. South Korea's Kospi sank 1.3% to 3,169.94, with investors concerned over the Aug. 1 deadline for making a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump or facing 25% tariffs on all the country's exports to the U.S. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 8,677.20. India's Sensex was flat. In Thailand, the SET sank 1.1% after the government named Vitai Ratanakorn as the new future governor of the central bank. He is viewed as likely to be less independent than the current governor, raising concerns about the bank's independence, analysts said. Vitai will replace Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, when his term as governor ends in September. Many of Trump's stiff proposed tariffs are paused after he extended the deadline for talks to allow more time to reach potential trade deals that could lower those rates. Aug. 1 is the next big deadline, at least for now. U.S. stock indexes inched their way to more records on Monday to kick off a week full of profit updates from big U.S. companies. General Motors will report its latest profit results later this week, along with such market heavyweights as Alphabet, Coca-Cola and Tesla. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% and squeaked past its prior all-time high set on Thursday. The Dow edged down less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to its own record. Verizon Communications helped lead the way and rose 4%. The telecom giant reported a stronger profit and higher revenue for the latest quarter than expected and raised its forecasts for the full year. That helped offset a 5.4% drop for Sarepta Therapeutics, which continued to fall after the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it asked the company to voluntarily stop all shipments of Elevidys, its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, due to safety concerns. Cleveland-Cliffs rallied 12.4% after the steel producer reported a smaller loss for the spring than analysts expected. It's a major supplier to the auto industry, and Trump's tariffs steer companies hoping to sell cars in the United States toward steel made in the country. In other dealings early Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 67 cents to $65.28 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 65 cents to $68.56 per barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 147.55 Japanese yen from 147.38 yen. The euro gained to $1.1701 from $1.1696.

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