Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: HARDLINE conservative Sanae Takaichi was elected Japan’s first female prime minister on October 21, shattering the political glass ceiling and setting the country up for a decisive turn to the right.
An acolyte of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an admirer of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is expected to return to Abe-style government stimulus as she attempts to jumpstart an economy saddled with slow growth and rising prices. While her victory marks a pivotal moment for a country where men still hold overwhelming sway, she named just two women to her cabinet, far fewer than what she had promised.
Takaichi is also likely to usher in a sharp move to the right on issues such as immigration and defence, making her the latest leader in tune with the broader rightward shift in global politics.
She received 237 votes in the election in parliament’s 465-seat lower house on Tuesday and then won a similar vote in the less powerful upper house.
Her victory was secured after her Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of its postwar history, agreed on October 20 to form a coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin.
Together the parties are two seats short of a majority in the lower house. That means Takaichi’s success will depend on her winning the cooperation of more opposition lawmakers, said Tadashi Mori, a professor of politics at Aichi Gakuin University.
“The two parties do not command a majority in either chamber and to ensure a stable government and gain control of key parliamentary committees, they will need to secure more than half the seats,” he said. Takaichi takes over when Japanese politics appears more fractured than at almost any other time in recent memory, thanks in part to the rise of the smaller, hard-right Sanseito Party, which has siphoned voters away from the LDP.
