Japan Prime Minister Ishiba vows to stay on despite election loss | BBC News - video Dailymotion

Bbc News

#Japan #Elections #BBCNews Japan's ruling coalition has lost its majority in the country's upper house, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said he has no plans to quit.  Voters went to the polls on Sunday for the tightly-contested election, which was held at a time of frustration at the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito over rising prices and the threat of US tariffs.  Speaking after polls closed on Sunday, the prime minister said he "solemnly" accepts the "harsh result" but that his focus was on trade negotiations.  The ruling coalition needed 50 seats to retain control of the 248-seat upper chamber - it ended up with 47.  Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog  For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news   #Japan #Elections #BBCNews

Transcript

00:00We just want to look at that result in Japan. As you have been hearing, Japan's Prime Minister

00:05Shigeru Ishiba has reiterated he will stay on in office as Prime Minister, despite his governing

00:13coalition losing its majority in the upper house of parliament in national elections.

00:19Mr. Ishiba said the public had delivered a harsh judgment, but there were too many pressing issues

00:25to resolve for him to resign now. And he did, of course, talk about the threat of extra

00:32U.S. tariffs and inflation. Japan's opposition parties are fragmented and unlikely to try

00:38to form a government themselves. The governing bloc lost control of the more powerful lower

00:44house in October. Well, John Nilsson Wright is associate professor at the University of Cambridge

00:51and head of Japan and Korea's program at the Center for Geopolitics. And he gave me his thoughts

00:57about the LDP's election defeat.

01:01Going into this election, Prime Minister Ishiba was in a very weak position. All of the things

01:07that your correspondent was describing, the impact of very high price inflation and more

01:12than 3% in Japan, the question of rice prices, the issue of corruption as it's dominated the

01:19LDP, together with another issue which has been really, I think, increasingly stoked by parties

01:25like Sunset or the question of immigration, particularly Chinese immigration, has really

01:32combined together with the issue of tariff pressure from the United States to create a crisis of

01:38confidence, if you like, in the governing LDP. So this outcome is not a surprise. I think what is,

01:43however, something of a surprise is the rise of far-right nationalist parties. For a long time,

01:49we assume that populism really had no traction in Japan. I think we now have to revise that

01:53consideration. And it raises interesting questions about what the government does now if Mr. Ishiba is

02:00able to tough it out. He said he will stay as Prime Minister, but there will be real pressure from

02:04within his party after three major defeats, the lower house election back in October, recent metropolitan

02:13elections in Tokyo. And now this dramatic defeat in the upper house election makes his position, I would

02:20say, almost untenable. But we'll have to wait and see to see what members of his own party decide to do.

02:26And just talk us through what might happen going forward. Because as you say, to many, it might seem

02:33surprising that this party, Sunseto, has done as well as it did. There is a real shift among the young

02:41Japanese in terms of what they're expecting from this government, whereas previous generations have

02:47just kind of opted for stability every time and stuck with what they know. It would seem that's

02:53no longer something that the LDP can just assume. Complacency, you know, they've have many argue

02:59they've been very complacent in government. Well, the trouble is, there are no good policy options at

03:05the moment. I mean, in order to address the concerns of voters who are concerned with price inflation,

03:10the government will now come under pressure to follow through with some of the proposals from

03:16the opposition parties, one of which is a cut in the consumption tax, which of course would have an

03:21immediate benefit in terms of addressing the cost of living issues for ordinary Japanese voters. But

03:26it would also cut into social security provision, which is hugely important for an aging population.

03:32It would also reduce government revenue. It would increase the pressure on the government to increase

03:37reliance on government debt. This is a country with a 260% debt to GDP ratio. The markets will then

03:45punish the government and the country. All of this happening at a time when the squeeze in the

03:50external trade sector is becoming even more pronounced, given those very high threats of 25% tariffs on

03:57Japan's auto sector, and a further 25% increase in tariffs on all Japanese exports to the United States.

04:04It's really almost impossible to see how the government can square the circle. And so we're

04:09going to see a period of economic turmoil. And it's going to be very difficult for Mr. Ishiba to

04:15demonstrate tangible progress. And I think that's...

04:17And just briefly, John, just quickly, because we're almost out of time, does this, this presumably,

04:23as far as negotiating with the US is concerned, really weakens Japan's hand, if the Prime Minister is

04:29seen really as a lame duck. President Trump will be very aware of that when it comes to negotiating

04:34with Japan.

04:35Yes. And therefore, that's one reason why party members might decide to put pressure on

04:41Mr. Ishiba to step down so that they have a tougher negotiator, if you like, going into those

04:45negotiations. Who that would be? Takeichi Sanai, for example, a protege of former Prime Minister Abe,

04:52late Prime Minister Abe, more nationalistic. That might change the tenor of those talks. But again,

04:56it's too early to say at this point. It is too early to say on a lot of things at the moment.

05:01Back to you, Samantha Thali. Thanks very much.

Japan Prime Minister Ishiba vows to stay on despite election loss | BBC News

Category

Transcript

Recommended