A coalition between right-wing opposition Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin and the Liberal Democratic Party has set hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi on the path to becoming Japan’s first female prime minister.
The partnership, with a combined 231 seats in parliament’s dominant lower house, falls two short of a majority, but the tally is almost certainly enough for Takaichi to win Tuesday’s parliament vote for the next prime minister.
“I very much look forward to working together … in an endeavour to strengthen Japan’s economy and transform the country,” Takaichi said.
In any runoff in the parliament vote, Takaichi needs only a majority of ballots cast, rather than those of all lawmakers but to govern effectively, she will need to court other opposition groups to back items such as an upcoming supplementary budget.
In return for its support, Ishin, until now Japan’s second largest opposition party, got pledges from Takaichi to advance its small-government agenda, from a cut of 10% in the number of lawmakers to suspending a consumption tax on food for two years.
The deal came 10 days after the collapse of the LDP’s 26-year coalition with Komeito, which ended its alliance after the ruling party’s choice of Takaichi as its new leader.
A fiscal dove, Takaichi has called for higher spending and tax cuts to cushion consumers from rising inflation and has criticised the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates.
“Expectations for Takaichi’s economic policies, which include fiscal expansion and monetary easing, appear to be facilitating rising share prices and a weaker yen,” said Nomura Securities strategist Fumika Shimizu.
Takaichi wants to revise Japan’s pacifist postwar constitution to recognise the role of its military. she wants higher defence expenditure to deter neighbouring China.
She has also called for stricter immigration rules and opposes social policies, such as allowing women to retain their surnames after marriage, which she says undermine traditional values.
For now, Ishin will not take up a post in Takaichi’s government when she announces her cabinet after Tuesday’s vote, at least until it is clear that its partnership with the LDP is working.