Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in the general election for the first time since 2009, official results released today indicate.
The coalition between the conservative LDP and its ally Komeito won 215 seats out of a total of 465 in the House of Representatives on Sunday, not enough to secure an absolute majority of 233 deputies.
After the first projections were released on Monday, Ishiba promised to "initiate fundamental reforms in the areas of finance and politics" in the LDP, which has been hit at the polls by high inflation in the country and a financial scandal.
"The biggest factor is the suspicion, distrust and anger that have not disappeared regarding the issue of funding and politics," the prime minister told the press, referring to the scandal that has rocked the LDP.
The financial scandal, which had already contributed to the unpopularity of former prime minister Fumio Kishida, led the LDP to punish several dozen members for failing to declare the equivalent of several million euros, collected through the sale of tickets to fundraising events.
Ishiba also assured that he intends to remain in office despite the electoral defeat, so as not to create a "political vacuum".
Without an absolute majority with its coalition partner, the LDP will have to seek other allies or form a precarious minority government, since the opposition remains too fragmented to propose an alternative.
This result will be virtually unprecedented in the history of the LDP, which has managed to remain in power almost uninterruptedly since 1955.
Ishiba, 67, who became prime minister on October 1, called early elections and promised voters "a new Japan" with a program to strengthen security and defense, increase support for low-income families and revitalize the Japanese countryside.
