Categories: India

UPDATE 3-Coalition deal puts Takaichi on brink of becoming Japan's first female PM

(Adds comment from Ishin leader, updates stock index rise) * Ishin's support ends risk of LDP losing power * Ishin leaders to meet LDP leader Takaichi at 0900 GMT * Yen falls, Nikkei index rises almost 3% to record high TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi is almost certain to become Japan's first female prime minister on Tuesday, after the right-wing opposition Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, said it was ready to back her premiership. "I told Takaichi that we should move forward together," Ishin's leader and Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters in the western Japanese city on Monday. He will meet with Takaichi at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) to conclude the alliance, he added. Yoshimura and Ishin's other boss, Fumitake Fujita, joined party lawmakers earlier at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) to discuss the coalition. Investors' anticipation of a deal that could lead to higher government spending weakened the yen and pushed stocks in Japan to a record high, with the blue-chip Nikkei share index jumping almost 3% in afternoon trading. The cooperation agreement would deliver a combined 231 seats in parliament's dominant lower house. It would fall two short of a majority, but ensure Takaichi likely wins a vote in parliament on Tuesday to pick Japan's next prime minister. She will only need a majority of ballots cast rather than of all members in any runoff vote. To govern, however, she will still need to court the support of other opposition groups, including for an upcoming supplementary budget. The expected deal with Ishin follows the collapse of the LDP's 26-year coalition with Komeito, which ended its alliance after the ruling party picked Takaichi as its new leader. Komeito's abrupt withdrawal triggered talks among opposition parties, including the second largest Ishin, that could have derailed her premiership ambitions and thrown her party out of power for the first time in more than a decade. Ishin's decision to side with the LDP ends that possibility. FISCAL DOVE, SECURITY HAWK Takaichi, a fiscal dove, 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. Some analysts say Ishin, which advocates for small government and spending cuts, could restrain some of Takaichi's spending ambitions. Takaichi wants to revise Japan's pacifist postwar constitution to recognise the role of its military. A regular visitor to the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, viewed by some Asian neighbours as a symbol of wartime aggression, she wants higher defence spending 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, at least until it is clear that the partnership with the LDP is working, Yoshimura said later in a television interview. "Right now, we're still a group of lawmakers with no experience in government. So rather than asking for a ministerial post, we want to first focus on realising our policies as part of the ruling coalition," he said. (Reporting by Tim Kelly, Rocky Swift, Makiko Yamazaki, Mariko Katsumura, Satoshi Sugiyama, Makiko Yamazaki and Anton Bridges)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

Indianews Syndication

Recent Posts

ADVISORY – SPORTS DAILY OUTLOOK MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 2025

. SPORTS DAILY OUTLOOK - MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 2025 . EXPECTED: . SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-NEW-SLB/PREVIEW - Benfica…

2 minutes ago

Ukraine's Zelenskiy speaks to Macron about applying pressure on Russia

KYIV, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had spoken to French…

8 minutes ago

UPDATE 2-South Korea to become 4th-largest global defence power, President Lee says

(Adds countries that sent delegations, presidential chief of staff's Europe visit in paragraphs 8-9) By…

32 minutes ago

Blue Jays beat Mariners 6-2 to force Game 7 in AL Championship

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM TORONTO BLUE JAYS V SEATTLE MARINERS GAME IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE…

37 minutes ago

Several websites including Amazon's cloud unit down for thousands of users, Downdetector says

(Reuters) -Multiple online platforms including Amazon's cloud unit AWS, Robinhood, Snapchat and Perplexity were down…

43 minutes ago

UPDATE 1-Zelenskiy says Ukraine preparing contract to buy 25 Patriot systems

(Adds detail, comments) KYIV, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine is preparing a contract to buy…

53 minutes ago