Reference News Network, October 10 report - According to the website of the "Nikkei Shimbun", on October 10, the leader of the Komeito Party, Tetsuo Fukuda, held a meeting with the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Hayata Asano, in the Diet for about an hour and a half, formally conveying the policy of withdrawing from the coalition government with the LDP. The two sides failed to bridge their differences on the issue of strengthening regulation of political donations by enterprises and organizations.

Fukuda revealed after the meeting that the LDP side stated it would provide specific measures regarding corporate donations in the future. He said, "This is not sufficient, and I am extremely disappointed."

Regarding the LDP-Komeito coalition government, Fukuda clearly stated, "It will be temporarily reset, bringing an end to the relationship that has lasted so far." In the vote for the Prime Minister's designation, Komeito will fill in the name of "Tetsuo Fukuda" and vote for its party leader, not voting for the opposition parties.

The LDP and Komeito have been in a coalition since 1999, maintaining alignment even during their time in the opposition from 2009 to 2012. Hayata has repeatedly emphasized that "the LDP-Komeito coalition is the most fundamental foundation."

The website of the "Asahi Shimbun" on October 10 analyzed that, with Komeito exiting the coalition with the LDP, how will the majority in the House of Representatives change? In an abnormal situation where the combined seats of the LDP and Komeito had already fallen below half, the Diet will face an extremely complex situation. Although the possibility is very low, according to the numbers, there is even a possibility that the LDP president, Hayata Asano, may not be elected as the new Japanese Prime Minister.

The report stated that the vote for the Prime Minister's designation takes place at the joint session of both houses. A member who receives more than half of the support votes will become the Prime Minister. If no one receives more than half of the votes in the first round, the top two candidates will proceed to a runoff vote, and the member who receives the majority of votes will become the Prime Minister.

Looking at the number of seats of each party in the House of Representatives, the LDP (and independent members of the LDP) has 196 seats. Even if adding the 24 seats of Komeito, it still falls short of the majority (233 seats) by 13 seats. If the relationship between the LDP and Komeito breaks down, the LDP will face a gap of 37 seats.

On the other hand, the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, has 148 seats, 48 fewer than the LDP. If only considering cooperation with the main opposition party, if the Constitutional Democratic Party can unite with the Japan Innovation Party (35 seats) and the Nippon Ishin no Kai (27 seats), the total number of seats of the three major parties will reach 210, which is higher than the LDP's seat count. If Komeito also joins, the total number of seats of four parties will reach 234, forming a coalition framework barely exceeding the majority.

The report stated that under the complicated situation where neither the ruling nor the opposition parties can ensure a numerical advantage, the Secretary-General of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Yasuhiro Anzai, told the Nippon Ishin no Kai: "If you all agree to support (the leader of the Nippon Ishin no Kai) Yukiya Utsunomiya, we consider him a strong candidate." However, the Nippon Ishin no Kai viewed this as a "surprise," and instead expressed dissatisfaction. It remains unclear whether the opposition parties can align their steps.

If, in the runoff vote, all party members vote for their own party's leader, then Hayata Asano, as the president of the LDP, is expected to be elected as the Prime Minister with 196 votes. (Translated by Liu Jieqiu, Ma Xiaoyun)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7559564333979435574/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your attitude by clicking the [Up/Down] buttons below.