Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru says his party’s coalition will seek to stay in power, despite suffering a crushing blow in the Lower House election.
Ishiba said: “We have received an exceptionally harsh judgement from the public. It is deeply regrettable that our LDP, along with our coalition partner Komeito, has lost many valued members. We must humbly and solemnly accept this outcome, reflect sincerely, and work toward a complete renewal of our party.”
The Liberal Democratic Party secured 191 seats, far below the 247 it had going into the election. Its coalition partner Komeito won 24 seats. Together, the two parties fell short of the 233 they needed to secure a majority. That had been Ishiba’s benchmark for victory.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan took 148 seats. And the Democratic Party for the People secured four times what it had going into the race.
Ishiba vowed to bring in major reforms to regain the public’s trust. He also said he will try to work with other parties in the House.
Ishiba said: “We are not thinking of instantly forming a new coalition at this point. I think we need to start by discussing how to introduce each party’s policies with a humble attitude. In the process, we will work to build a relationship of trust with other parties, so that people will have faith in us that we are working together for the sake of the people. That is a responsibility that we need to fulfill as a party that has won the most votes.”
However, the CDP, the largest opposition party, is also courting the other camps to counter the coalition. The Lower House will vote for Prime Minister in the coming weeks.