Shigeru Ishiba becomes Japan PM again hours after his cabinet resigned, leads another minority govt

Hours after his entire Cabinet resigned on Monday, Shigeru Ishiba is back again as the Prime Minister of Japan after lawmakers voted him as leader of a minority government.

On Monday, lawmakers in the Diet’s, or parliament, powerful lower house congregated for a special four-day session to nominate the prime minister, a necessary step after a general election.

Interestingly, Ishiba, leader of conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), won the parliamentary vote even without getting the majority of support from the lawmakers.

Japan’s Ishiba becomes PM without getting majority in parliament

In the 465-seat lower house of Japan parliament, Ishiba garnered support of 221 lawmakers against 160 for Yoshihiko Noda, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP).

However, 84 votes were discounted because they named other politicians.

Japan’s opposition parties are divided on key issues, stopping them mounting a credible challenge to Ishiba.

“This chamber names Shigeru Ishiba… as the prime minister,” lower house speaker Fukushiro Nukaga announced.

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Ishiba becomes Japan PM despite losing majority in Oct polls

Despite losing its majority in the October election, the LDP and coalition partner Komeito remain the largest bloc in the 465-seat lower house.

The coalition government that held the majority since 2012 will now have to resort to small opposition parties to pass policy agenda.

The Ishiba-led ruling bloc will now have to ask for help from the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), a small centrist group, to get enough support in the house to pass legislation.

The DPP has agreed to cooperate on a vote-by-vote basis while staying out of the coalition.

A new Cabinet will be announced by Ishiba later on Monday, who will be ceremonially approved by the emperor.

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Japan's Shigeru Ishiba Cabinet resigns, but here's why he may become PM again by afternoon

Ishiba called for snap polls but fails

Ishiba assumed office about six weeks ago, on October 1, and had called for a snap election on October 27. He was hoping that the polls would shore up his mandate as leader of the LDP but his scandal-tarnished coalition lost.

Also Read: Japan's Shigeru Ishiba Cabinet resigns, but here's why he may become PM again by afternoon

Trump woes

Ishiba, 67, will run a fragile minority government as protectionist Donald Trump regains control in main ally the United States.

According to a report by Reuters, Ishiba is scheduled to attend a slew of international events, such as a summit of the Group of 20 big economies in Brazil on November 18 and 19. He is also trying to arrange a stopover in the US around the G20 summit to meet US president-elect Donald Trump.

The report mentioned some Japanese officials expressing fear that Trump might again hit Tokyo with protectionist trade measures and revive demands for it to pay more for the cost of stationing US forces there.

Meanwhile, a report by AFP mentioned analysts voicing concerns over possible fresh US tariffs on Chinese and Japanese goods under Trump may fuel inflation.

The Trump-led administration may also demand Japan to hike its defence spending, or push Japanese firms to expand their factories in the US.

“It must be Ishiba who is feeling the toughest headache of Trump’s victory,” the AFP report quoted Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, as saying in a note.

When Japan votes next?

Japan will now hold elections next year for the less powerful upper house, where the ruling coalition’s slim majority could pose as a big risk if Ishiba cannot revive public trust during his administration, which has been tarnished by a scandal over unrecorded donations to lawmakers.

His imminent challenge is compiling a supplementary budget for the fiscal year through March, under pressure from voters and opposition parties to raise spending on welfare and take steps to offset rising prices.

“In order to stay in power, Ishiba needs to pass the government budget this winter,” the AFP report quoted Tomoaki Iwai, professor emeritus at Nihon University, as saying.

“It will mean the LDP will have to concede some of its policies to seek cooperation from others,” Iwai added.

With inputs from agencies.