Japan's PM Vows to Quit if Bloc Falls Short of Majority

(MENAFN) Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared Monday she will resign immediately if the ruling coalition fails to secure a majority in the upcoming House of Representatives election.

At a debate among party leaders, Takaichi — who also heads the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — said an electoral setback would prevent her from continuing as prime minister or advancing her policy agenda.

Pressed to define “defeat,” she stated: “I would resign at once if the ruling alliance formed by the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party fails to win more than half of the seats in the lower house.”

The debate featured leaders from both ruling and opposition parties, including Fumitake Fujita of the Japan Innovation Party, Yoshihiko Noda of the Centrist Reform Alliance, and Yuichiro Tamaki of the Democratic Party for the People.

Japan’s lower house was dissolved Friday at the start of its ordinary parliamentary session. A snap election is scheduled for Feb. 8, with campaigning officially beginning Tuesday. The 16-day campaign period will be the shortest in Japan’s postwar history.

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