AMN
Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shigeru Ishiba was re-elected as the country’s Prime Minister today after securing the most votes in both houses of the Japanese Diet.
The Japanese Parliament, known as the Diet, convened an extraordinary session this afternoon to elect the Prime Minister. Following the loss of its long-held majority in last month’s general election, the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito faced a runoff vote between Prime Minister Ishiba and the leader of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, Yoshihiko Noda. In the runoff voting in the House of Representatives, 67-year-old Ishiba received 221 votes, outperforming Noda to become the country’s 103rd Prime Minister despite falling short of the 233 majority threshold. Ishiba will later be formally inaugurated at a ceremony at the Imperial Palace and hold a press conference in the evening.