Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a policy speech during the plenary session of the House of Commons on the National Diet in Tokyo on October 4. Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License photo
Oct. 28 (UPI) — Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party is looking to strike policy deals instead of expanding its ruling coalition after the ruling party was crushed in weekend elections that saw them lose their majority.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said for now he would consider adopting policy ideas from the Democratic Party for the People, which emerged as the biggest winner in Sunday’s elections. Ishiba said he could pursue policy by policy to help avoid government gridlock.
Ishiba had urged intra-party unity in earlier comments to the Liberal Democrats on Monday. He has been leader of the party for about a month. The first test of the LDP’s resolve will come next month during a parliamentary session in which the body will select the next prime minister.
So far, opposition parties have rejected the idea of joining the current ruling coalition, which could cause chaos over who would become the country’s leader.
“We have received an exceptionally harsh judgment from the public,” Ishiba said. according to NHK NewS. “It is very unfortunate that our LDP, together with our coalition partner Komeito, has lost many valued members. We must humbly and solemnly accept this outcome, reflect sincerely and work towards a complete renewal of our party.”
The LDP won 191 seats with Komeito 24 for 233 seats, a loss of 14 seats in the election. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which won 148 seats, said it plans to form a coalition to challenge the Liberal Democrats.
The Liberal Democrats faced with a double blow of a bad economy and high inflation, which caused its popularity to plummet. The former prime minister failed to turn the tide by replacing some cabinet members to regain unity.