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Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is celebrating what appears to be a significant electoral victory, as her ruling coalition is anticipated to secure a two-thirds majority in the influential lower house of parliament.
If the official results confirm these projections, Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, will have a robust mandate to pursue her conservative policies and leave a lasting impact on the nation of 123 million over the next four years.
The Asia-Pacific region is keenly observing to see whether Takaichi, aged 64, will escalate tensions or ease relations with China, especially after her remarks about Taiwan in November stirred anger in Beijing.
Financial markets are likely to be on edge regarding Japan’s fiscal health and its immense debt if Takaichi opts to reduce taxes and increase spending in Asia’s second-largest economy.
“We have consistently stressed the importance of responsible and proactive fiscal policy,” Takaichi affirmed late Sunday.
“We will prioritise the sustainability of fiscal policy. We will ensure necessary investments. Public and private sectors must invest. We will build a strong and resilient economy,” she said.
Hit with young voters
Capitalising on her honeymoon start after becoming Japan’s fifth premier in as many years in October, Takaichi called the snap election last month.
The gamble paid off handsomely, with local media projecting late Sunday that her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won around 300 seats of the 465 contested.
Together with its junior coalition partner, the ruling bloc was expected to have garnered at least the 310 seats needed for a two-thirds majority.
Takaichi has injected new life into the LDP, which has governed Japan almost non-stop for decades but which has shed support in recent elections because of unhappiness about rising prices and corruption.
A heavy metal drummer in her youth, Takaichi was an admirer of Britain’s “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, and on the ultra-conservative fringe of the LDP when she became party chief.
She has been a hit with voters, especially young ones, with fans lapping up everything from her handbag to her jamming to a K-pop song with South Korea’s president.
But she will have to deliver on the economy to remain popular.
“With prices rising like this, what matters most to me is what policies they’ll adopt to deal with inflation,” voter Chika Sakamoto, 50, told AFP at a voting station in snowy Tokyo on Sunday.
Relationship with China
Before becoming prime minister, Takaichi was seen as a China hawk.
She was a regular visitor to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours convicted war criminals along with 2.5 million war dead and is seen as a symbol of Japan’s militarist past.
Barely two weeks in office, Takaichi suggested that Japan could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take self-ruled Taiwan by force.
China regards the democratic island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it.
With Takaichi having days earlier pulled out all the stops to welcome US President Donald Trump, Beijing was furious with her unscripted remarks. It summoned Tokyo’s ambassador, warned its citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia.
Margarita Estevez-Abe, associate professor of political science at Syracuse University, said that Takaichi can afford to dial down tensions now.
“Now she doesn’t have to worry about any elections until 2028, when the next upper house elections will take place,” Estevez-Abe told AFP before the vote.
“So the best scenario for Japan is that Takaichi kind of takes a deep breath and focuses on amending the relationship with China.”
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