Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi appears back on track to become Japan\u2019s first female prime minister
\n Tokyo
\nJapan\u2019s governing party and the main opposition are set to form a coalition government, setting the stage for Sanae Takaichi to become the country\u2019s first female prime minister, local media report.
\nSanae Takaichi, the leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Hirofumi Yoshimura, the head of the smaller right-leaning Japan Innovation Party (JIP), known as Ishin, are set to sign an agreement on their alliance on Monday, Japan\u2019s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.
\nTakaichi became leader of the governing LDP earlier this month, but her bid to become Japan\u2019s first female premier was derailed by the collapse of her governing coalition.
\nSince then, the LDP has been working to cobble together a different political alliance, putting her chances for the top job back on track.
\n\u201cThe LDP has entrusted Takaichi with handling the coalition matter, while the JIP will hold an executive board gathering in Osaka on Sunday and a plenary meeting of lawmakers the following day before giving final approval to the agreement with the LDP,\u201d Kyodo reported.
\nJapan\u2019s leading Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper also said that Takaichi and Yoshimura were \u201clikely to sign a coalition agreement after talks on Monday\u201d.
\nReports of a new coalition come after the LDP\u2019s junior partner, the Komeito party, left the governing coalition after 26 years, plunging the country into a political crisis.
\nThe sealing of an alliance between the LDP and JIP could lead to Takaichi\u2019s election as premier as early as Tuesday, but the parties are still two seats short of a majority to pass the vote.
\nShould the vote go to a second-round run-off, however, Takaichi would only need support from more MPs than the other candidate.
\nThe moves to form a coalition come just days before the expected arrival in Japan of United States President Donald Trump.
\nTrump is scheduled to travel to Japan before the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi appears back on track to become Japan\u2019s first female prime minister Tokyo Japan\u2019s governing party and the main opposition are set to form a coalition government, setting the stage for Sanae Takaichi to become the country\u2019s first female prime minister, local media report. Sanae Takaichi, the leader of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-509607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n