Japan’s governing party and the main opposition are set to form a coalition government, setting the stage for Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s first female prime minister.
According to Al Jazeera, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, October 19, that the leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Hirofumi Yoshimura, the head of the smaller right-leaning Japan Innovation Party (JIP), known as Ishin, are set to sign an agreement on their alliance on Monday.
Takaichi became leader of the governing LDP earlier this month, but her bid to become Japan’s first female premier was derailed by the collapse of her governing coalition.
Since then, the LDP has been working to cobble together a different political alliance, putting her chances for the top job back on track.
“The LDP has entrusted Takaichi with handling the coalition matter, while the JIP will hold an executive board gathering in Osaka on Sunday and a plenary meeting of lawmakers the following day before giving final approval to the agreement with the LDP,” Kyodo reported.
Japan’s leading Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper also said that Takaichi and Yoshimura were “likely to sign a coalition agreement after talks on Monday”.
Reports of a new coalition come after the LDP’s junior partner, the Komeito party, left the governing coalition after 26 years, plunging the country into a political crisis.
