Japanese PM Doesn't Plan To Reshuffle After Coalition Fails To Control Parliament

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday said he had no intention of reshuffling and involving other parties into the ruling coalition.

On Sunday, Japan's ruling coalition, consisting of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito Party, failed to win the 50 seats they needed to become the majority of parliament in the upper house.

"Currently I am not considering expanding the coalition ... Currently I do not consider the issue of personnel," said Ishiba in a post-election press conference reported by ANTARA from Sputnik-OANA, Monday, July 21.

Ishiba said the ruling party "had a tough assessment from the people" and promised to have a dialogue with parties other than the Komeito Party.

The Japanese PM also emphasized that he did not plan to step down after the election, emphasizing political stagnation should be avoided amid current challenges, such as tariff negotiations with the United States, price increases, high risk of strong earthquakes near Tokyo or along the Nankai Trench the worst security situation Japan faced in the postwar era.

Based on the final results of the election of the Japan House of Representatives (Japan Parliament) which was held on Sunday, the ruling coalition did not hold a majority in the lower house or upper house of parliament after the LDP and the Komeito Party lost 19 seats in the upper house.

Japan's upper house of parliament has 248 seats, of which 100 were selected based on proportional party representations, and the remaining 148 seats were selected in electoral districts.

Members of the upper house were elected for a six-year term.

This year, as many as 522 candidates are competing for 125 seats. As many as 50 members of parliament will be elected based on the party list, while 75 members will be elected in the electoral district.