Tokyo, October 19 (). The Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai have broadly agreed to form a coalition government, paving the way for her to become the country’s first woman prime minister. Kyodo news agency gave this information on Sunday.
LDP leader Sanae Takaichi and small right-wing group head Hirofumi Yoshimura are scheduled to sign a coalition agreement on Monday, Kyodo reported.
However, no statement has come from either party on this.
Nippon Ishin co-chief Fumitake Fujita raised hopes of a deal on Friday, saying the two parties had made “major progress” in coalition talks.
Nippon Ishin lawmakers will vote for Takaichi in parliament’s election on Tuesday to choose prime minister. Meanwhile, there is also news that (news agency reported) the party is not planning to send ministers in the Takaichi cabinet in the initial phase.
This would be inferior to the full alliance formed with the LDP’s longtime ally Komeito, raising concerns about the stability of the incoming government.
Fujita told reporters on Sunday evening that talks were in the final stages and that his fellow lawmakers had entrusted Yoshimura and him with making a final decision on the matter for the party.
He said his decision would be announced on Monday, but declined to discuss it openly.
Fujita said, “I don’t know how the picture we present tomorrow will be evaluated, but I think we are moving towards tomorrow with the relationship of trust deepening significantly, and I believe the other party is thinking the same.”
After winning the presidency of the ruling LDP earlier this month, Takaichi’s path as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s successor seemed almost certain. But Komeito then pulled out of its 26-year-old alliance, prompting talks with rival parties to select the next prime minister.
Kyodo said that in an effort to get Nippon Ishin on board, the LDP has offered to ban donations from companies and other organizations and to continue working toward exempting food items from Japan’s sales tax.
Nippon Ishin has proposed removing taxes on food items for two years.
Takaichi, a fiscal expert, has called for more spending and tax cuts to relieve consumers from rising inflation and criticized the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates.
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