Japan's parliament elects Sanae Takaichi as first female PM
Sanae Takaichi has made history as she became the first female Prime Minister of Japan, after parliament elected her with 237 votes, four more than a majority.
Tokyo (AP/dpa) - The Japanese parliament on Tuesday elected Sanae Takaichi as the country's first female prime minister, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right.
The 64-year-old conservative, who had recently become the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) chairwoman, was considered the likely future head of government.
Earlier in October, the Komeito party left the governing coalition led by the LDP, which seemed to jeopardise Takaichi's ambition to make history as the country's first female prime minister.
On Monday, the LDP agreed to form a new coalition with the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin. While the new coalition still falls short of a majority in parliament, the opposition camp was unable to agree on a joint candidate.
The LDP-led government with its then-junior partner Komeito lost its majority in the July upper house election and had since been a minority government. As a consequence of the election defeat, prime minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned from office.
"Political stability is essential"
Takaichi won 237 votes — four more than a majority — compared to 149 won by Yoshikoko Noda, head of the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in the lower house, which elects the prime minister. As the results were announced, Takaichi stood up and bowed deeply.
“Political stability is essential right now," Takaichi said at Monday's signing ceremony with the JIP leader and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura. “Without stability, we cannot push measures for a strong economy or diplomacy.”