Support sinks for Japan coalition after election blow

Following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s party’s worst election showing in 15 years, a new survey released on Wednesday indicated that support for Japan’s beleaguered ruling coalition has further declined.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun daily survey, support for the government fell to 34 percent, while its disapproval rating rose to 51 percent.

51 percent of respondents favoured Ishiba’s government, compared to 32 percent who did not, during the brief honeymoon period following his inauguration on October 1.

A separate poll by Kyodo News released Tuesday had 53 percent saying they did not want the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito to stay in power.

For the first time since 2009, when it was ousted from office for three years, the coalition was 18 seats shy of a majority in Sunday’s emergency election, falling short of the 233 seats required.

Ishiba has already stated that he intends to lead a minority government and look for support from other parties in order to pass laws in parliament.

Late Tuesday, the leader of the 28-seat Democratic Party for the People (DPP), a possible kingmaker, denied joining the LDP in a coalition administration, further solidifying that forecast.

“We will give all of our strength to achieve our policies and we will not join the coalition,” DPP chief Yuichiro Tamaki said at a press conference.

However, Ishiba is still courting other parties including the centrist DPP to secure parliamentary approval to remain prime minister in a vote reportedly slated for November 11.

To win their support, analysts said that Ishiba may agree to tax cuts and stimulus spending that the DPP campaigned on in the snap election.
Also likely seeking to become premier will be Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), whose seat tally rose from 96 in the last election to 148.

In a likely run-off vote, unseen in the past three decades, whoever wins the most votes will become the next leader, even if the person does not have a majority.
“The DPP is in an extremely strong position and holds a ‘casting vote’ that can decide the direction of political momentum,” Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, said in a memo.