TOKYO
\nJapanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s coalition swept to a landslide election win on Sunday, paving the way for her tax cuts that have spooked financial markets and military spending aimed at countering China.
\nThe conservative Takaichi, Japan\u2019s first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain\u2019s \u201cIron Lady\u201d Margaret Thatcher, was projected to deliver as many as 328 of the 465 seats in parliament\u2019s lower house for her Liberal Democratic Party.
\nThe LDP alone had already sailed past the 233 seats needed for a majority less than two hours after polls closed. With its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, she is certain to deliver a supermajority that would ease her legislative agenda, public broadcaster NHK projected.
\nWINTER ELECTION BRINGS BLIZZARD OF VOTES
\n\u201cThis election involved major policy shifts \u2014 particularly a major shift in economic and fiscal policy, as well as strengthening security policy,\u201d Takaichi said in a television interview as the results rolled in.
\n\u201cThese are policies that have drawn a great deal of opposition. If we have received the public\u2019s support, then we truly must tackle these issues with all our strength.\u201d
\nTakaichi, 64, called the rare winter snap election to capitalise on her buoyant personal approval ratings since she was elevated to lead the long-ruling LDP late last year.
\nVoters have been drawn to her straight-talking, hardworking image, but her nationalistic leanings and emphasis on security have strained ties with powerful neighbour China, while her promises of tax cuts have rattled financial markets.
\nResidents trudged through snow to cast their ballots with record snowfall in parts of the country snarling traffic and requiring some polling stations to close early. It was only the third postwar election held in February, with elections typically called during milder months.
\nOutside a polling station in the town of Uonuma in the mountainous Niigata prefecture, teacher Kazushige Cho, 54, braved below-freezing temperatures and deep snow to cast his vote for Takaichi\u2019s Liberal Democratic Party.
\n\u201cIt feels like she\u2019s creating a sense of direction – like the whole country pulling together and moving forward. That really resonates with me,\u201d Cho said.
\nBut Takaichi\u2019s election promise to suspend the 8% sales tax on food to help households cope with rising prices has spooked investors concerned about how the nation with the heaviest debt burden among advanced economies will fund the plan.
\nTakaichi said in the interview that she would speed up consideration for the sales tax cut while keeping the focus on fiscal sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s coalition swept to a landslide election win on Sunday, paving the way for her tax cuts that have spooked financial markets and military spending aimed at countering China. The conservative Takaichi, Japan\u2019s first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain\u2019s \u201cIron Lady\u201d Margaret Thatcher, was projected to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-530292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n