TOKYO: Japan’s parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister Tuesday, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right.
Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election loss in July.
Ishiba, who lasted only one year as prime minister, resigned with his Cabinet earlier in the day, paving the way for his successor.
Takaichi won 237 votes – four more than a majority – compared to 149 won by Yoshikoko Noda, head of the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in the lower house, which elects the prime minister. As the results were announced, Takaichi stood up and bowed deeply.
The LDP’s alliance with the Osaka-based rightwing Japan Innovation Party, or Ishin no Kai, ensured her premiership because the opposition is not united. Takaichi’s untested alliance is still short of a majority in both houses of parliament and will need to court other opposition groups to pass any legislation – a risk that could make her government unstable and short-lived.
The two parties signed a coalition agreement on policies underscoring Takaichi’s hawkish and nationalistic views.
Their last-minute deal came after the Liberal Democrats lost its longtime partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito, which has a more dovish and centrist stance. The breakup threatened a change of power for the LDP, which has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for decades.
Tackling rising prices and other economic measures is the top priority for the Takaichi government, LDP Secretary General Shunichi Suzuki told NHK public television as he apologized over the delay because of the party’s internal power struggle since the July election. He said the new coalition will cooperate with other opposition parties to quickly tackle rising prices to “live up to the expectations of the people.”
Later in the day, Takaichi, 64, will present a Cabinet with a number of allies of LDP’s most powerful kingmaker, Taro Aso, and others who backed her in the party leadership vote.
JIP will not hold ministerial posts in Takaichi’s Cabinet until his party is confident about its partnership with the LDP, Yoshimura said.
Takaichi is running on deadline, as she prepares for a major policy speech later this week, talks with US President Donald Trump and regional summits. She needs to quickly tackle rising prices and compile economy-boosting measures by late December to address public frustration.
While she is the first woman serving as Japan’s prime minister, she is in no rush to promote gender equality or diversity.
Takaichi is among Japanese politicians who have stonewalled measures for women’s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes same-sex marriage and allowing separate surnames for married couples.
A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is expected to emulate his policies including a stronger military and economy, as well as revising Japan’s pacifist constitution. With her potentially weak grip on power, it’s unknown how much Takaichi will be able to achieve.
Also an admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi was first elected to parliament in 1993 and has served in a number of senior party and government posts, including as ministers of economic security and internal affairs, but her diplomatic background is thin.
When Komeito left the governing coalition, it cited the LDP’s lax response to slush fund scandals that led to their consecutive election defeats.
The centrist party also raised concern about Takaichi’s revisionist view of Japan’s wartime past and her regular prayers at Yasukuni Shrine despite protests from Beijing and Seoul that see the visits as lack of remorse about Japanese aggression, as well as her recent xenophobic remarks.
Takaichi has toned down her hawkish rhetoric. On Friday, she sent a religious ornament instead of going to Yasukuni.
![]()
Japan’s parliament elects Sanae Takaichi as nation’s first female prime minister
Short Url
https://arab.news/vs8f5
Japan’s parliament elects Sanae Takaichi as nation’s first female prime minister
- Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling
- Tackling rising prices and other economic measures is the top priority for the Takaichi government
Thailand PM Anutin consolidates power with dominating election win
- Bhumjaithai Party wins clear victory after a nationalist campaign amid Cambodia conflict
- Vote also included a referendum on a new constitution to replace a 2017 military-backed charter
BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party won a clear victory in Sunday’s general election, raising the prospect that a more stable coalition may now succeed in bringing an end to a period of prolonged political instability.
Anutin set the stage for the snap election in mid-December during a border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, a move political analysts said appeared to be timed by the conservative leader to cash in on surging nationalism.
It is a gamble that paid off for a prime minister, who — having taken over after premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the populist Pheu Thai party was ousted over the Cambodian crisis — then dissolved parliament less than 100 days later.
“Bhumjaithai’s victory today is a victory for all Thais, whether you voted for Bhumjaithai Party or not,” Anutin told a press briefing. “We have to do the utmost to serve the Thai people to our full ability.”
With nearly 95 percent of polling stations reporting, preliminary results released by the election commission showed the Bhumjaithai Party winning about 192 seats, compared to 117 for the progressive People’s Party, and 74 for the once-dominant Pheu Thai party.
A handful of other parties won a combined 117 spots in the 500-seat parliament, according to a Reuters calculation of election commission data.
Power to govern
When Anutin dissolved parliament in December, he cited dysfunction and infighting between rival parties as making it impossible to lead a minority government.
While the Bhumjaithai Party was unlikely to win a majority outright, the results suggest it is in a strong position to push through campaign pledges, said Napon Jatusripitak, a political scientist at the Bangkok-based Thailand Future think-tank. Those include implementing a consumer subsidy program and ditching an agreement with Cambodia over maritime claims.
“For the first time in a long time, we will likely have a government that has sufficient effective power to govern,” he said. “We are seeing what I would describe as a marriage of convenience between technocrats, conservative elites, and traditional politicians.”
Critical to Anutin’s success were his embrace of nationalism and Bhumjaithai’s strategy of winning over politicians from rival parties in rural areas, analysts said.
“The scale of its victory was unanticipated, perhaps demonstrating that the more nationalist political environment and its ability to consolidate the conservative electorate all worked in its favor,” said Mathis Lohatepanont, an independent political analyst.
Coalition bid rejected
Speaking as results were coming in, People’s Party leader Natthaphong Rueangpanyawut conceded that, while some votes had yet to be counted, his party did not look likely to win.
Natthaphong said the party would not join a Bhumjaithai-led government but would also not form a competing coalition.
“If Bhumjaithai can form a government, then we have to be the opposition,” he told a press conference.
With a message of structural change and reforms to Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, the People’s Party had led most opinion polls during the campaign season.
But in a survey conducted during the campaign’s final week and released on Sunday, the National Institute for Development Administration projected that Bhumjaithai would be the winner with between 140 and 150 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, ahead of 125-135 for the People’s Party.
The progressive party’s earlier support for Anutin as prime minister was likely a severe miscalculation, undermining its own ideological purity and allowing Bhumjaithai to attain the benefits of incumbency, Mathis said.
Speaking to Reuters, Natthaphong said he did not see the election as the result of any mistakes by his party, but instead highlighted that its opponents had not been complacent.
“I’m not blaming any factors. Our responsibility now has to be to focus on the grassroots,” he said. “We’ve done a lot already but haven’t been able to crack what they have. It wasn’t good enough.”
Constitutional referendum
Thai voters were also asked during the vote to decide if a new constitution should replace a 2017 military-backed charter that critics say concentrated power in undemocratic institutions, including a powerful senate that is chosen through an indirect selection process with limited public participation.
The election commission’s early count showed voters backing the referendum by a margin of nearly two to one.
Thailand has had 20 constitutions since the end of its absolute monarchy in 1932, with most of the changes coming in the wake of military coups.
The new government and lawmakers can start the amendment process in parliament with two more referendums required to adopt a new constitution.
Anutin set the stage for the snap election in mid-December during a border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, a move political analysts said appeared to be timed by the conservative leader to cash in on surging nationalism.
It is a gamble that paid off for a prime minister, who — having taken over after premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the populist Pheu Thai party was ousted over the Cambodian crisis — then dissolved parliament less than 100 days later.
“Bhumjaithai’s victory today is a victory for all Thais, whether you voted for Bhumjaithai Party or not,” Anutin told a press briefing. “We have to do the utmost to serve the Thai people to our full ability.”
With nearly 95 percent of polling stations reporting, preliminary results released by the election commission showed the Bhumjaithai Party winning about 192 seats, compared to 117 for the progressive People’s Party, and 74 for the once-dominant Pheu Thai party.
A handful of other parties won a combined 117 spots in the 500-seat parliament, according to a Reuters calculation of election commission data.
Power to govern
When Anutin dissolved parliament in December, he cited dysfunction and infighting between rival parties as making it impossible to lead a minority government.
While the Bhumjaithai Party was unlikely to win a majority outright, the results suggest it is in a strong position to push through campaign pledges, said Napon Jatusripitak, a political scientist at the Bangkok-based Thailand Future think-tank. Those include implementing a consumer subsidy program and ditching an agreement with Cambodia over maritime claims.
“For the first time in a long time, we will likely have a government that has sufficient effective power to govern,” he said. “We are seeing what I would describe as a marriage of convenience between technocrats, conservative elites, and traditional politicians.”
Critical to Anutin’s success were his embrace of nationalism and Bhumjaithai’s strategy of winning over politicians from rival parties in rural areas, analysts said.
“The scale of its victory was unanticipated, perhaps demonstrating that the more nationalist political environment and its ability to consolidate the conservative electorate all worked in its favor,” said Mathis Lohatepanont, an independent political analyst.
Coalition bid rejected
Speaking as results were coming in, People’s Party leader Natthaphong Rueangpanyawut conceded that, while some votes had yet to be counted, his party did not look likely to win.
Natthaphong said the party would not join a Bhumjaithai-led government but would also not form a competing coalition.
“If Bhumjaithai can form a government, then we have to be the opposition,” he told a press conference.
With a message of structural change and reforms to Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, the People’s Party had led most opinion polls during the campaign season.
But in a survey conducted during the campaign’s final week and released on Sunday, the National Institute for Development Administration projected that Bhumjaithai would be the winner with between 140 and 150 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, ahead of 125-135 for the People’s Party.
The progressive party’s earlier support for Anutin as prime minister was likely a severe miscalculation, undermining its own ideological purity and allowing Bhumjaithai to attain the benefits of incumbency, Mathis said.
Speaking to Reuters, Natthaphong said he did not see the election as the result of any mistakes by his party, but instead highlighted that its opponents had not been complacent.
“I’m not blaming any factors. Our responsibility now has to be to focus on the grassroots,” he said. “We’ve done a lot already but haven’t been able to crack what they have. It wasn’t good enough.”
Constitutional referendum
Thai voters were also asked during the vote to decide if a new constitution should replace a 2017 military-backed charter that critics say concentrated power in undemocratic institutions, including a powerful senate that is chosen through an indirect selection process with limited public participation.
The election commission’s early count showed voters backing the referendum by a margin of nearly two to one.
Thailand has had 20 constitutions since the end of its absolute monarchy in 1932, with most of the changes coming in the wake of military coups.
The new government and lawmakers can start the amendment process in parliament with two more referendums required to adopt a new constitution.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.