Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition fell short of his declared "victory line" of a majority in snap parliamentary elections, media projections showed Monday. AFP examines the options now for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after its worst result since 2009, and the prospects for its bruised leader Ishiba, who only took office on October 1. Fiercely critical of former prime minister Shinzo Abe and his brand of establishment politics, Ishiba has long played on his relative popularity with voters as the LDP's "intraparty foe".
But while this won him the party leadership, in the election citizens were more interested in punishing the LDP over a scandal that saw party members pocket money from fund-raisers. That the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) recently elected moderately conservative former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda as leader also didn't help. Briefly in office between 2011 and 2012, and known for his "realistic" stance, "I think the majority of Japanese people trust Noda", said Masato Kamikubo, a politics professor at Ritsumeikan University.
"He is a very stable politician", Kamikubo said. While the LDP's seats as projected by public broadcaster NHK tumbled to 191, from 259 seats at the last election, the CDP's tally soared to 148 from 96. Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, slipped to 24 from 32, with new party chief Keiichi Ishii losing his seat.
This is tricky given the fragmented opposition, and memories of its tumultuo.