- Ruling Parties Lost The Majority Of The House Of Representatives
In the House of Representatives election on October 27, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito suffered a major defeat, losing a combined total of 64 seats and forfeiting their majority.
Meanwhile, the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), significantly expanded its power, increasing from 98 to 148 seats, and other opposition parties, except for the Japan Restoration Party, the Communist Party, and the Social Democratic Party, also gained seats.
Notably, the Democratic Party for the People quadrupled its previous number of seats, reaching 28.
Although the ruling coalition had initially appeared poised to secure a minimum majority of 233 seats at the time of the last Japan Digest report, one major factor in the defeat was a scandal involving covert financial aid to non-endorsed LDP members, which was leaked by the Communist Party and greatly damaged public trust.
Among those embroiled in the scandal, former Minister of Education Hakubun Shimomura, former Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Tsuyoshi Takagi, and former Minister of Defense Seishiro Eto lost their seats, as did the current Ministers of Agriculture and Justice.
Even Komeito leader Keiichi Ishii lost his seat.
Shinjiro Koizumi, head of LDP’s election strategy, resigned to take responsibility for the loss, while LDP President Shigeru Ishiba, deeply acknowledging his responsibility for the defeat, announced his intent to continue his duties and pursue reappointment as Prime Minister in the Diet.
- LDP To Seek For a “Partial Coalition” With DPP
A special session of the Diet, comprising the 465 newly elected members of the House of Representatives, will convene on November 11 to elect the 103rd Prime Minister.
With the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito having lost their majority, considerable maneuvering is occurring between the ruling and opposition parties over the selection of the Prime Minister.
While the LDP has managed to bring six unaffiliated winning candidates, whom it did not endorse due to the political funding scandal, into its caucus, it still falls 12 seats short of a majority.
The LDP is exploring a "partial coalition" with the Democratic Party for the People (DPP), a party with relatively aligned policies.
This arrangement would allow the DPP to support specific bills without assuming full responsibility for the administration.
Since it is expected that PM Ishiba will not achieve a majority in the Prime Minister selection vote, a runoff is anticipated between Ishiba and CDPJ leader Noda.
In this runoff, the ruling coalition aims to secure support from the DPP to install Ishiba as Prime Minister.
On the other hand, the CDPJ hopes to gather votes from all opposition parties, including the DPP, to secure a majority and achieve a change in government.
However, some influential opposition parties have explicitly stated that they cannot enter into a coalition with the CDPJ.
As a result, it remains uncertain whether these parties will back Noda in the Prime Minister selection vote solely to achieve a change in government.
3. Ishiba To Hold His First Face-To-Face Meeting With U.S. And Chinese Presidents
Assuming he will be appointed as the 103rd Prime Minister in the special Diet session on November 11, Prime Minister Ishiba will attend the APEC Summit held in Peru from November 15 to 16, where he will have his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Biden.
The goal is to reaffirm the policy of deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance, and it is expected that, before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the same APEC Summit, PM Ishiba will align perspectives on China with President Biden.
Following this, PM Ishiba is also scheduled to attend the G20 Summit held in Brazil from November 18 to 19.
4. Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Operation Restarted
According to NHK, Tohoku Electric Power started up the reactor at Unit 2 of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Miyagi Prefecture on the night of the 29th of October, bringing it back online for the first time in more than 13 and a half years since it was shut down following the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.
This is the first restart of a reactor of this type, the same type as the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which experienced an accident, and also marks the first restart of a nuclear plant in the disaster-affected region.
Thirteen years ago, due to the massive earthquake and tsunami, the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 of Tohoku Electric lost much of its external power supply, and its underground facilities were flooded. Since then, various safety measures have been implemented, including raising the seawall to 29 meters above sea level, and in 2020, it passed the review by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, which was a prerequisite for its restart.
After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, all nuclear power plants were shut down, leading to a higher dependency on natural gas and coal, which rose to 41% and 34%, respectively, to compensate for the electricity shortage.
Since then, along with the spread of renewable energy, the gradual restart of dormant nuclear power plants has begun.
By 2022, the dependence on natural gas and coal had decreased to 34% and 31%, respectively, while the share of nuclear power generation recovered to 6%.
With the cost of natural gas and coal rising due to the weaker yen, pushing up electricity prices, Japan, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, is now focused on whether local consent can be obtained to restart the 23 currently inactive reactors.