After losing its minority in the upper house, Shigeru Ishiba said, ‘I painfully feel my serious responsibility over the election results.’
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, leader of the center-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said on Monday he would not stand down after losing a key election on Sunday.
The parliamentary election defeat came as Japan faced an August 1 deadline to strike a tariff deal with the United States.
The LDP and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, were trying to hold onto a majority in the 248-seat upper house, the House of Councillors, but fell three seats short in Sunday’s vote.
During a press conference on Monday, Ishiba said, “While I painfully feel my serious responsibility over the election results, I believe I must also fulfill my responsibility I bear for the country and the people so as not to cause politics to stall or go adrift.”
“Challenges such as global situation and natural disaster won’t wait for a better political situation.”
The LDP lost control of the more powerful lower house of the National Diet, the House of Representatives, in October 2024.
Ishiba said the LDP and Komeito had agreed to maintain their coalition, while seeking cooperation from opposition parties.
The Democratic Party for the People—which campaigned for higher take-home pay, according to a report in the Japan Times—was the big winner, and is expected to increase its number of seats from 4 to 17.
Another gainer was the nationalist Sanseito, which campaigned on stricter regulations on foreigners and traditional gender roles, and which is set to win 14 seats.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the center-left Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CPDJ)—which won 22 seats—told the national broadcaster NHK his priority was to form an alliance among the opposition.
Noda—who was prime minister between September 2011 and December 2012—said, “Public opinion clearly said ‘no’ to the Ishiba government.”
Ishiba said it made no sense to create a political vacuum as the country faced a series of challenges, including the tariff deadline with the United States.
