Japan on track to name its first female prime minister

Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi, 64, secures votes with a new coalition partner.

- BY MARI YAMAGUCHI

Sanae Takaichi is on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister, after her governing party secured a crucial coalition partner.

Takaichi, 64, is set to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tuesday's parliamentary vote. If she’s successful, it would end Japan’s three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the coalition’s loss in the July parliamentary election.

The moderate centrist Komeito party had split from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after a 26-year-long coalition. It came just days after Takaichi’s election as LDP leader, and forced her into a desperate search for a new coalition partner to secure votes so that she can become prime minister.

The Buddhist-backed Komeito left after raising concerns about Takaichi’s ultraconservative politics and the LDP’s lax response to corruption scandals that led to the party’s consecutive election defeats and loss of majority in both houses.

While the leaders of the country’s top three opposition parties failed to unite to seek a change of government, Takaichi went for a quick fix by teaming up with the most conservative of them: the Osaka-based Ishin no Kai, or Japan Innovation Party. The two parties on Monday signed a coalition agreement that includes joint policy goals on diplomacy, security and energy.

The fragile new coalition, still a minority in the legislature, would need cooperation from other opposition groups to pass any legislation.

Big diplomatic tests for the government will come within days — talks with President Trump and regional summits. At home, Takaichi needs to quickly tackle rising prices and come up with economic stimulus measures to appease the frustrated public.

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