Japan PM vows to stay on despite election debacle

TOKYO: Japan´s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed on Monday to stay in office despite his gamble of snap elections backfiring, with his party´s ruling coalition falling short of a majority for the first time since 2009.

Ishiba called Sunday´s election days after taking office on October 1, but voters angry at a slush fund scandal punished his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed Japan almost non-stop since 1955.

Ishiba, 67, insisted on Monday he was staying put, saying he would not allow a “political vacuum” in the world´s fourth-biggest economy. He said the biggest election factor was “people´s suspicion, mistrust and anger” after the party scandal, which helped sink his predecessor Fumio Kishida.

“I will enact fundamental reform regarding the issue of money and politics,” Ishiba told reporters.

The yen hit a three-month low, sliding more than one percent against the dollar. According to projections by national broadcaster NHK and other media, the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito missed Ishiba´s stated goal of winning 233 seats -- a majority in the 456-member lower house. The LDP won 191 seats, down from 259 at the last election in 2021, and Komeito 24, according to NHK´s tallies. Official results were yet to be published.