Last Updated on February 18, 2026 1:10 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ

AMN / NEWS DESK

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi resigned with her cabinet today. Cabinet ministers of the Takaichi administration submitted letters of resignation en masse at a cabinet meeting, as parliament is set to convene for a new session this afternoon to elect a new prime minister.

After the vote, the new premier will finalise cabinet appointments, and the chief cabinet secretary is scheduled to announce the lineup. Takaichi, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is expected to be reinstated as prime minister, given that her party currently holds more than two-thirds of the seats in the powerful lower house after the ruling coalition won the February 2026 general election.

Japan’s Lower House votes to keep Takaichi as prime minister

Takaichi Sanae has won a Lower House vote to stay on as Japan’s prime minister. Now, the Upper House is casting its ballots, though Takaichi’s position is effectively secured.

After every Lower House election, lawmakers in both chambers have to vote to choose a prime minister. They cast their ballots Wednesday afternoon.

Takaichi heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which won more than two-thirds of the Lower House seats in a general election earlier this month. Since she took office last October, the LDP formed a new coalition with the Japan Innovation Party.

The Upper House voting process is now underway. The ruling bloc does not have a majority in the Upper House. But even if no candidate wins the first round of voting, Takaichi is expected to win a potential run-off.

She will then launch what is technically her second cabinet, though she will reappoint the same ministers. She is expected to hold a news conference from the prime minister’s office Wednesday night.