Coalition fetches Japan its first female premier

Japan's parliament on Tuesday elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country's first female prime minister, ending months of political uncertainty.

- AP

Her election came a day after her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) struck a coalition deal with the Osaka-based right-wing Japan Innovation Party (Ishin no Kai), a partnership expected to push her government further to the right.

Takaichi, 64, succeeds Shigeru Ishiba, who resigned earlier in the day along with his Cabinet after just one year in office. The change follows the LDP’s heavy election loss in July, which had left Japan in a political vacuum for nearly three months.

In a vote in the lower house, which chooses the prime minister, Takaichi secured 237 votes, just four more than the required majority, defeating Yoshiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who received 149 votes. After the results were announced, Takaichi stood and bowed deeply.