Japan's parliament to elect new prime minister on Tuesday

Parliament will vote for a new prime minister after Shigeru Ishiba’s resignation on Sept. 7 following a poor showing by his coalition in both the October 2024 Lower House elections and the July 2025 Upper House elections.

Japan’s political landscape has been thrown into turmoil as newly elected Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Sanae Takaichi, 64, works to assemble a governing coalition after Komeito’s withdrawal last week from their longstanding alliance left the party without a majority.

Takaichi -- a staunch conservative and close ally of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- made history as the first woman to lead the LDP, but her path to becoming Japan’s next prime minister faces major uncertainty.

The opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is also seeking to unite opposition forces and field a single, unified candidate for prime minister against Takaichi.

On Thursday, the LDP and opposition Japan Innovation Party (JIP) began coalition talks following Komeito’s withdrawal.

However, the leader of the JIP, Hirofumi Yoshimura, said Friday that his party will not form a coalition with the LDP unless they reach an agreement to specify parliamentary seat cuts by the end of the year, according to Kyodo.

In the 465-member lower house, the LDP holds 196 seats, while 233 votes are required to elect a prime minister. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan holds 148 seats, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) 35, the Democratic Party for the People (DPP) 27 and Komeito 24.