The Diet on Nov. 11 elected Shigeru Ishiba, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, as the 103rd prime minister of Japan in the first runoff vote in 30 years.

No candidate received a majority of votes in the first round of the election in the Lower House, so a runoff was held between the top two finishers, Ishiba and Yoshihiko Noda, president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Ishiba received 221 votes, Noda gained 160, and 84 ballots were invalid because they listed the names of other candidates.

Ishiba immediately formed his new administration after the victory, keeping 16 of the 19 members of his first Cabinet, which resigned en masse at an extraordinary meeting on the morning of Nov. 11.

The LDP and junior coalition partner Komeito fell short of a maintaining their majority in the Oct. 27 Lower House election, meaning an outright winner was not expected in the first round of voting in the Diet.

Fortunately for Ishiba, the opposition parties were unable to unify behind a single prime ministerial candidate.

The CDP, which holds 149 Lower House seats, urged other opposition parties to vote for Noda as prime minister.

But the Democratic Party for the People and Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) decided to vote for their respective leaders in both the first and final rounds of voting.

The last Diet runoff vote for prime minister was held in 1994, when Japan Socialist Party Chairman Tomiichi Murayama was elected.

The LDP, an opposition party at the time, voted for Murayama and then returned to power by forming a coalition with the Japan Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake.

Among the three new members of the Ishiba administration, Keisuke Suzuki, a former vice foreign minister, replaced Hideki Makihara as justice minister.

Taku Eto, a former farm minister, succeeded Yasuhiro Ozato in that Cabinet position.

Both Makihara and Ozato are LDP members who lost in the Lower House election.

Ishiba also appointed Hiromasa Nakano, a former top official of the economy ministry, as land minister to replace Tetsuo Saito.

Saito vacated the Cabinet post to become the leader of Komeito.

The second Ishiba Cabinet will likely have a difficult time managing the government with the LDP now a minority ruling party.

Since the Lower House election, Ishiba has indicated that he intends to compile a supplementary budget proposal that exceeds last fiscal year’s total expenditures of 13 trillion yen ($84.7 billion).

He aims to pass the extra budget bill by the end of the year, but cooperation from opposition parties is essential to achieving this goal.

The LDP has been forced to make significant concessions to the opposition side since the coalition’s losses in the Lower House election.

For example, it has agreed with the DPP to begin policy discussions that include the extra budget and tax system reforms.

Opposition party members also now occupy many more chair positions at Lower House committees. A CDP member is currently chairperson of the crucially important Lower House Budget Committee.

Another focus of attention under the new Cabinet will be political reform efforts to prevent a repeat of the LDP scandal over unreported political funds.

The CDP, Nippon Ishin and the DPP have agreed to aim for additional revisions of the Political Fund Control Law by the end of this year.

Calls for further action against shady donations and expenses have also come from within the LDP.

At a Nov. 9 meeting, Komeito’s new leader, Saito, urged Ishiba to “take a clear-cut approach that is acceptable to the public.”

Ishiba has held meetings with opposition party leaders to call for cooperation in the management of the Diet.

In a meeting with Noda on the morning of Nov. 11, Ishiba confirmed his policy to quickly revise the Political Fund Control Law again.

“I said that I would like to make all decisions in a manner that is visible to the people while sincerely and humbly accepting the opinions of the opposition parties in the future management of the Diet, and I asked for their cooperation,” Ishiba told reporters at the prime minister’s office. “I will sincerely deal with all parties in the future.”

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LINEUP OF ISHIBA CABINET

REAPPOINTED:

Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications:

Seiichiro Murakami, 72, Lower House, LDP

Foreign Minister:

Takeshi Iwaya, 67, Lower House, LDP

Finance Minister:

Katsunobu Kato, 68, Lower House, LDP

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology:

Toshiko Abe, 65, Lower House, LDP

Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare:

Takamaro Fukuoka, 51, Upper House, LDP

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry:

Yoji Muto, 69, Lower House, LDP

Environment Minister:

Keiichiro Asao, 60, Upper House, LDP

Defense Minister:

Gen Nakatani, 67, Lower House, LDP

Chief Cabinet Secretary:

Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, Lower House, LDP

Minister for Digital Transformation:

Masaaki Taira, 57, Lower House, LDP

Reconstruction Minister:

Tadahiko Ito, 60, Lower House, LDP

National Public Safety Commission Chairman:

Manabu Sakai, 59, Lower House, LDP

Minister for Policies Related to Children:

Junko Mihara, 60, Upper House, LDP

Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization:

Ryosei Akazawa, 63, Lower House, LDP

Minister in charge of Economic Security:

Minoru Kiuchi, 59, Lower House, LDP

Minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs:

Yoshitaka Ito, 75, Lower House, LDP

NEWLY APPOINTED:

Justice Minister:

# Keisuke Suzuki, 47, Lower House, LDP

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:

Taku Eto, 64, Lower House, LDP

Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism:

# Hiromasa Nakano, 46, Lower House, Komeito

Note: Those marked with # are joining a Cabinet for the first time.