Takaichi Becomes First Female Prime Minister

The Diet elected Sanae Takaichi, the President of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for 104th prime minister of Japan on October 21. Takaichi immediately formed her cabinet. Although the LDP reached a policy agreement with Japan Innovation Party (JIP) to establish new coalition, JIP decided not to send a minister to Takaichi Cabinet. It is assumed, anyway, that Takaichi administration is going to take hawkish stance in policies with support of conservative JIP.

Takaichi won the election in the Lower House with 237 votes out of 465, leaving behind the leader of Constitutional Democratic Party, Yoshihiko Noda, with 149 votes. Takaichi was successful in receiving some votes out of LDP-JIP coalition. The opposition parties were not united to vote for a candidate. Takaichi also defeated Noda, with votes of 124 to 46, in the run-off voting of Upper House. There were 75 invalid votes in the Upper House.

 

Takaichi became the first female prime minister of Japan. However, the Japanese people are not very much enthusiastic with her premiership. It is true that the main reason of expectation to Takaichi is because she is a woman. But she was less popular to women than men as a LDP presidential candidate. She is negative to have a female emperor and to introduce separate surname system.

 

Takaichi immediately began to build her cabinet. It was reported that she decided appointing Minoru Kihara to Chief Cabinet Secretary, Toshimitsu Motegi to Minister for Foreign Affaris, Shinjiro Koizumi to Minister of Defense. Yoshimasa Hayashi is going to be Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. Takaichi included all the candidates of LDP presidential election in her cabinet or LDP board.

 

For Minister of Finance, she picked Satsuki Katayama as one of the female cabinet members. Japan’s top negotiator in tariff negotiation with the U.S. and a close ally of former premier Shigeru Ishiba, Ryosei Akazawa, is expected to keep involved in his work as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. In these appointments, Takaichi seems to have considered reintegration of the LDP and women’s empowerment.

 

While it agreed on forming a firm coalition with the LDP, JIP did not join Takaichi Cabinet. It is not usual for a leading coalition not to include any member of junior partner in the cabinet. Although there is an example in which the Social Democratic Party left LDP’s Ryutaro Hashimoto Cabinet in 1996, maintaining the cooperative relationship, Komeito kept sending minister to LDP cabinet since 1999.

 

Cooperation outside the cabinet is weaker form of a coalition government than ordinary one. A cabinet promotes all the policies through cabinet decisions. The decision is made with unanimous approval by all the ministers. If a minister refuse signing on a cabinet decision, he or she will be forced to leave the cabinet, because the prime minister has a power to discharge a minister anytime. 

 

JIP’s taking a certain distance from Takaichi Cabinet has two aspects. It does not have to be responsible for each decision of the cabinet. On the other hand, it cannot push its policies to the decisions through the cabinet. The LDP may constantly be concerned with possibility of JIP’s departure from the coalition.

 

The coalition agreement does not refer to cooperation in the election. The LDP lawmakers from Osaka area, where JIP has a stronghold, are worried about inter-party cooperation with JIP. How two parties can coordinate electoral cooperation in each district will determine the fortune of their coalition.

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