TOKYO: Japan’s Komeito party on Friday (Oct 10) said it would quit its coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), throwing the LDP’s grip on power into uncertainty as new leader Sanae Takaichi awaits a parliamentary vote to confirm her as prime minister.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told party members that the 26-year partnership had broken down over an “inadequate” explanation by the LDP of its handling of a political funding scandal that has roiled the ruling group.
He said Komeito would not back Takaichi in the parliamentary vote expected later this month.
“We want the LDP-Komeito coalition to go back to the drawing board for now and bring an end to our relationship,” Saito told reporters after talks with the LDP.
“Given that we have not received clear and concrete cooperation from the LDP regarding our demands, and if these reforms prove impossible to achieve, I said (in the meeting) that it would be utterly impossible for us to write Sanae Takaichi’s name in the nomination,” he said.
Saito said, however, that Komeito would still support budget plans and other legislation that the two parties have prepared.
Takaichi said the collapse of the country’s ruling coalition was “extremely regrettable”.
“We have cooperated over the last 26 years, including when we were out of power. That this relationship is coming to such a conclusion is extremely regrettable,” the head of the LDP said of Komeito.
Takaichi, who the LDP picked as its new leader last Saturday, takes over a party that is 37 seats short of a majority in parliament’s lower house. Without Komeito, she will need the backing of at least two other parties to pass legislation.
The LDP also has a minority in the less powerful upper house of parliament. It has governed Japan for most of the postwar period.
The party has been haemorrhaging support as backing grows for smaller parties, including the anti-immigration Sanseito.
Takaichi’s selection as LDP leader last week dampened market expectations for a near-term interest rate hike, sending stocks higher and weakening the yen. She is known for her staunch support of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” stimulus policies.
She had won a runoff leadership contest against the telegenic and more socially progressive Shinjiro Koizumi.
Komeito’s departure could trigger an unwinding of the so-called “Takaichi trade”, which had been driven by investor optimism around fiscal stimulus.
The yen dropped against the dollar following the announcement, while the Nikkei closed down 1 per cent.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-ruling-coalition-komeito-ldp-split-sanae-takaichi-pm-bid-doubt-5394086
