Sanae Takaichi will be able to push through a right-wing agenda now that the Liberal Democratic Party has a supermajority in the lower house
© Kim Kyung-Hoon / Getty Images
[RT] Japan’s
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi
scored a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections on Sunday.
With
a two-thirds majority in the lower house, secured together with
coalition partners, the LDP leader will be better positioned to push
through her right-wing agenda, particularly on defense.
A hardline
conservative, Takaichi was elected as Japan’s first female prime
minister last October. She has advocated revising Japan’s pacifist
constitution and beefing up the country’s offensive military
capabilities, among other policy changes. Takaichi called Sunday’s snap
elections with a view to capitalizing on her popularity and securing a
fresh mandate for “major policy shifts.”
The LDP, along
with its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will likely
receive at least 310 seats in the 465-member House of Representatives,
according to Japanese media. This would mark one of the largest
lower-house majorities in postwar Japanese history.
Now that the
ruling coalition has secured this overwhelming representation in the
lower house, Takaichi will be able to override resistance in the upper
chamber, potentially paving the way for amending Japan’s constitution.
Takaichi’s
predecessors from the LDP aligned themselves with the West by imposing
sanctions on Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in
February 2022.
In response to Tokyo’s “clearly unfriendly position,” Moscow
withdrew from peace talks to formally end World War II. The two
neighboring nations have still not sealed a peace treaty, with an
outstanding territorial dispute over the four southernmost islands of
the Kuril archipelago.
Commenting on bilateral relations with
Japan last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed
concern over Tokyo’s increasingly militaristic policies and the
deployment of US weaponry, warning that Japan’s militarization
undermines regional stability and security. Moscow urged Tokyo to adhere
to its constitution’s defensive approach, but, according to Lavrov, the
current leadership was “ignoring these concerns.”
Beijing has also voiced concern over Tokyo’s trajectory. Late last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned attempts by “Japanese right-wing forces… to remilitarize and rearm Japan” and to “challenge the postwar international order.”
Takaichi
previously drew Beijing’s ire after she said that Japan could respond
militarily should China try to take Taiwan by force.