Lawmakers vote to keep Ishiba as Japan PM

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba kept his job in a parliamentary vote on Monday, despite having recently led the ruling coalition to its worst general election result in 15 years.

Lawmakers appointed former defence minister Ishiba head of a minority government -- meaning he may face political gridlock, or need to compromise to pass new bills. Ishiba, 67, took office six weeks ago and held a snap election on October 27, hoping to shore up his mandate as leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

But voters, unhappy with inflation and a slush fund scandal that helped sink his predecessor Fumio Kishida, delivered a ballot-box blow to the LDP and its junior coalition partner. MPs in parliament´s powerful lower house convened on Monday for a special four-day session to nominate the prime minister, a necessary step after a general election.

Despite losing its majority in the October election, the LDP coalition remains the largest bloc in the 465-seat lower house. The opposition parties are divided on key issues, stopping them from mounting a credible challenge to Ishiba.

In a run-off -- the first since 1994 -- Ishiba won 221 votes against 160 for Yoshihiko Noda, head of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP). Eighty-four votes were discounted because they named other politicians. “This chamber names Shigeru Ishiba... prime minister,” announced the lower house speaker, as Ishiba bowed to applause.