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November 11, 2024 | 09:08 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was reelected on Monday, despite the worst election loss suffered by his governing coalition in more than a decade.
Ishiba won a rare runoff vote, the first in three decades, to select a new prime minister. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner, Komeito, together lost the majority in the lower house of Parliament.
There was voter outrage over financial misconduct committed by the ruling party after prosecutors indicted 10 people earlier this year, including three lawmakers and several political aides.
The scandal related to political funds raised through party event tickets.
Dozens of LDP lawmakers led by Kishida were suspected of profiting from ticket sales in exchange for falsifying mandatory accounting reports.
Last year, several LDP lawmakers faced allegations of not reporting hundreds of millions of yen (equivalent to millions of dollars) in funds.
The unreported money was said to have been funneled into unmonitored slush funds.
The election was held to select a new prime minister after the top two candidates from the ruling LDP and the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) failed to secure the minimum support of 233 lawmakers.
Ishiba from the LDP faced off against Yoshihiko Noda from the CDPJ, who had 148 parliamentary votes. Ishiba's victory coincided with rival Democratic Party for the People (DPP) leader Tamaki’s admission to extramarital affairs.
The tabloid site Smart Flash featured a story about the 55-year-old politician enjoying drinks at a Shinjuku wine bar with a model 16 years his junior. The article included pictures of Tamaki leaving the place wearing a gray hoodie. The woman was reported to leave 20 minutes later.
"The facts reported this morning are basically true," said Tamaki. "I would like to offer my sincere apologies not only to my family but also to the many people across the country who had high expectations for me."
“My wife had told me, 'you can't protect the country if you can't protect the person closest to you.' I will etch those words in my mind once again, reflect on my action and do my best to work in a way that is in the best interests of the country and to realise policies,” he added.
Prime Minister Ishiba's cabinet resigned en masse on Monday to pave the way for a four-day special parliamentary session (Diet) to conduct a vote to choose a new prime minister.
This new vote to select the executive head took place after Japan held snap elections on October 27, which resulted in a hung parliament. No party secured a majority in the 465-member parliament.
The LDP and its partner, Komeito, lost the majority in parliament, while the opposition CDPJ made substantial gains, though not enough to form a government.
Ishiba was elected as Japan's 102nd prime minister in early October after winning the LDP leadership election in September.
A candidate needs the support of 233 lawmakers to win the position of prime minister.
The LDP has dominated Japan for almost every term since its formation in 1955. The party suffered its first setback in the early 1990s and then in 2009 when it was toppled from the government for three years.
NEWSWEEK | KYODO | ANADOLU | REUTERS
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