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HANOI: Polling stations opened in Vietnam, AFP journalists saw Sunday, as voters began casting their ballots for members of the National Assembly of the one-party state.&nbsp;The National Assembly is the country&#39;s top legislative body, but serves mainly to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party.&nbsp;The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million is both an economic success story, boasting eight percent growth last year, and a repressive one-party state that often jails its critics.&nbsp;Out of 864 candidates for the 500-seat legislature, which serves mainly to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party, only 65 are not party members.&nbsp;In the capital Hanoi, patriotic red-and-yellow banners fluttered from lampposts and traffic lights, extolling the &quot;national festival&quot; where people &quot;eagerly cast ballots&quot;.&nbsp;Elderly voters, well-dressed in suits or traditional costumes, were some of the first to cast their ballots at polling stations.&nbsp;&quot;I do expect top leaders after this election will make major changes to make our country better,&quot; Nguyen Thi Kim, 73, told AFP at a polling station set up in a community room of a high-rise residential block in Hanoi.&nbsp;Among the new parliament&#39;s first tasks when it sits next month will be to confirm top leaders already selected by the party at its twice-a-decade congress in January.&nbsp;The president, prime minister and head of the national assembly will all be confirmed by lawmakers&#39; votes.&nbsp;Top leader To Lam was reaffirmed as general secretary at the congress, but he is widely expected to become president as well -- a post that requires approval by lawmakers.&nbsp;This general election aims &quot;to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country to more development&quot;, To Lam said on live TV after casting his ballot.&nbsp;Most polling stations were due to close at 7:00 pm (1200 GMT), with results not expected for at least a week.

Americas

Polling stations open across Vietnam as voters elect members of the 500-seat National Assembly of Vietnam

Polls open in Vietnam legislative election

KATHMANDU: Counting was underway in Nepal on Friday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country&#39;s leadership following 2025 protests that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include Marxist leader KP Sharma Oli, the ousted four-time prime minister, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the Nepali Congress party, Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu&#39;s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up -- suggesting Shah&#39;s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Prakash Nyupane, a spokesman for the Election Commission, said that counting was ongoing &quot;in a peaceful manner&quot; across the Himalayan nation, from snowbound high-altitude mountain regions to the hot plains bordering India. Voters have chosen who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores of government buildings were torched. Youth-led protests under a loose Gen Z banner began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban, but were fed by wider grievances at corruption and a woeful economy. &quot;This is even a bigger upset than we expected -- it underscores the level of public disenchantment with the old parties for under-performance, as well as anger over the events of September,&quot; Kunda Dixit, publisher of the weekly Nepali Times, told AFP. &#39;Fate of the country&#39; The polls are one of the most hotly contested elections in the Himalayan republic of 30 million people since the end of a civil war in 2006. All eyes are watching the results in the key head-to-head battleground constituency of Jhapa-5, a usually sleepy eastern district, where 35-year-old Shah challenged directly the veteran Oli, aged 74. Shah, better known as Balen, snappily dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change -- and early trends suggested he was in the lead. Soldiers with armoured trucks manned barbed wire barricades around the counting centre in Jhapa. &quot;I hope this result changes the fate of the country for the better,&quot; Bhagawati Adhikari, 38, told AFP, who was among a crowd of dozens at Jhapa gathered outside the security cordon. &quot;The country should be peaceful and secure, youth should get opportunities, corruption should stop -- that&#39;s my appeal.&quot; &#39;Better path&#39; More than 3,400 candidates ran for 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists. Turnout was 59 percent. Some results are expected later Friday, but full nationwide tallies could take several days. Even then, negotiations to form a government may drag on if -- as many analysts predict -- no single party secures an outright majority. But Dixit raised the possibility that Shah&#39;s RSP could stage a dramatic win. &quot;If RSP hits the magic 138 seats, Balen will become prime minister -- and hopefully a cabinet of technocrats,&quot; added Dixit. Sushila Karki, the interim prime minister, praised the peaceful conduct of a vote she has said was critical in &quot;determining our future&quot;. The challenge that Karki -- a 73-year-old former chief justice who reluctantly left retirement to lead the nation -- now faces will be managing the reaction to results. The election saw a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle Nepal&#39;s dismal economy, challenging veteran politicians who have dominated for decades and argue that their experience guarantees stability and security. Mira Ranjit, 49, who voted in the capital, Kathmandu, clapped as ballot boxes were collected under heavy guard and taken to counting centres late on Thursday. &quot;A new leader should emerge who can guide our country and show a better path for the nation, so that the Gen Z protest achieves its goal,&quot; she said. &quot;We don&#39;t need anything more than this. Many mothers lost their children, and their demands should be fulfilled.&quot;

Nepal

Vote counting is underway in Nepal for the first election since youth led protests toppled the government in 2025

Nepal counts votes after key post-uprising election

TOKYO: Official campaigning began in Japan on Tuesday ahead of a snap election on Feb. 8. Here are five key issues in a high-stakes vote where Prime Minister <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/japans-ruling-party-elects-sanae-takaichi-as-new-leader-likely-to-become-first-female-pm" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sanae Takaichi</a>has laid her political future on the line. Race to the pollsCandidates&#39; posters are up, vans topped with loudspeakers are cruising the streets, and Takaichi held her first rally Tuesday in central Tokyo, where dozens gathered to hear her speak. The lower house of parliament was officially dissolved on Jan. 23, 16 days before the vote -- the shortest window between the two in the postwar era. Yet the brevity of this pre-election period &quot;will likely not have much of an effect&quot;, said Michael Cucek, assistant professor of Asian Studies at Temple University&#39;s Japan Campus. &quot;There is no need for time to introduce or explain anything: the parties are offering strikingly similar policy programmes,&quot; he told AFP, adding that the weather would likely have more impact on voter turnout, with severe snowstorms hitting the north. Takaichi&#39;s slipping popularityAppointed in October as Japan&#39;s first woman prime minister, hardline nationalist Takaichi is banking on strong poll numbers to boost her unpopular Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which holds only a slim majority in the powerful lower house. Takaichi has staked her political future on the vote, saying she will resign immediately if her coalition fails to win a majority. Her government&#39;s once sky-high popularity, while still solid, has started to slip: its approval rating fell from 75% in December to 67%, according to a survey by the Nikkei newspaper. Voters are raising questions over a recent tax-cut pledge to counter inflation and how it would be financed, while many are also frustrated by the snap election, which has slowed parliamentary debate on the 2026-27 budget. Ryutaro Kono, chief economist at BNP Paribas, said that &quot;the surveys ... suggest that the prime minister&#39;s popularity does not necessarily translate into a significant increase in votes for the Liberal Democratic Party.&quot; &quot;Delaying the passage of the budget to proceed with the general election likely caused a significant number of supporters to leave (Takaichi).&quot; Rivals uniteFacing the LDP -- a powerful party that has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955 -- and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), opposition forces have vowed to fight. The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the small Buddhist Komeito party -- a former LDP coalition partner -- are joining forces under a &quot;Centrist Reform Alliance.&quot; Analysts believe the election could be tight depending on the success of the new alliance, but the opposition&#39;s chances of victory remain slim. &quot;There are no significant policy differences among the parties. This election is shaping up as a referendum on Takaichi,&quot; Hideo Kumano, an economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, told AFP. Inflation looms largeJapan has grappled with a surge in living costs in recent years, and public anger over inflation played a major role in the downfall of Shigeru Ishiba, Takaichi&#39;s predecessor. Seeking to ease the pain, Takaichi unveiled in November a $135 billion stimulus package and, if elected, has pledged to waive the consumption tax on food for two years, joining opposition promises to cut various taxes. This risks further inflating the country&#39;s already colossal debt, rattling bond markets and reviving memories of the short-lived British leader Liz Truss, who resigned after alarming investors. According to the Nikkei poll published Monday, 56% of Japanese believe the promised tax exemption would not be effective against inflation. Takaichi defended the measure on Monday, saying she was paying &quot;considerable attention to fiscal sustainability.&quot; Foreigners, diplomacy&nbsp;Another voter concern is the role of foreigners in Japan, although immigration levels there remain low compared with those of other rich economies. Sanseito, a populist anti-immigration party, made a notable breakthrough in mid-2025 upper house elections. Sanae Takaichi is promising a clampdown. On Friday, a cabinet meeting proposed tougher action against foreigners staying illegally and stricter controls on property buyers, while pledging support for those who have the right to stay. International issues may also loom over the campaign. Takaichi, who rolled out the red carpet for US President Donald Trump, played drums with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and took selfies with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has thrown herself onto the diplomatic stage. But relations with Beijing have worsened since she suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan. In retaliation, Beijing announced tighter export controls to Japan, and the economic cost of this diplomatic crisis is worrying Japanese voters.

Japan's Prime Minister and President of the Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi delivers her first campaign speech for the House of Representatives election in Tokyo on January 27, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Asia

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces slipping approval ratings, rising inflation concerns, a fragile parliamentary majority and a newly unified opposition, as voters weigh economic strain, foreign policy risks and domestic political stability.

Japan's election campaign kicks off: Five things to know

ISLAMABAD: Italy has pledged full support for Bangladesh&#39;s democratic transition and the July Charter reform agenda, an Italian deputy minister said on Tuesday, following talks with the country&#39;s interim leader, the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2013603601386512602&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=6a22852af20e5782161273426ab9c5b3a452b7a4&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 648px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2013603601386512602"></iframe></div></div>Italian Undersecretary for Defence Matteo Perego di Cremnago made the remarks during a courtesy call with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna, BSS said, citing the Chief Adviser&rsquo;s Press Wing. According to BSS, the two sides discussed trade and defence cooperation, migration, the upcoming general elections, European Union election observation, and the July Charter. &quot;Italy sees the Indo-Pacific region as the new center of global gravity and seeks to strengthen relations with countries in the region, including Bangladesh&#39;s growing economy,&quot; Perego said, highlighting potential areas for closer cooperation. Perego noted that while the Bangladeshi community has integrated well in Italy, concerns remain over illegal migration through the Mediterranean route. Professor Yunus emphasized the need to expand legal migration pathways to developed nations with aging populations, such as Italy and Japan. He reaffirmed his commitment to holding &quot;free, fair, transparent, and festive&quot; elections on Feb. 12, BSS said. Recalling long-standing ties with Italy, he said that before taking office as interim leader, he had helped design the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics as a social business event. The chief adviser praised the EU for deploying a large observer mission to monitor the vote and said he expects strong voter turnout, particularly among young people who were unable to participate in what he termed &quot;fake elections&quot; during 16 years of &quot;fascist autocratic regime&quot; rule. Professor Yunus sought Italy&#39;s continued support for Bangladesh&#39;s democratic transition and enhanced cooperation in defence, trade, and investment.&nbsp;

Italy’s Undersecretary for Defence, Matteo Perego di Cremnago, called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna. Photo: Chief Adviser's Press Wing (taken from BSS)

Bangladesh

Italy has voiced support for the upcoming elections and expanding cooperation on trade and defense. It has also urged the establishment of legal migration pathways while raising concerns over irregular migration, BSS reported.

Italy backs Bangladesh's democratic transition, July Charter

BANGKOK: Thailand&rsquo;s next general election will take place on February 8, the election commission said Monday, and parties must nominate their candidates for prime minister before the end of this year. &ldquo;Today the Election Commission has drafted election details and proposed to the Commissioner who agreed that Sunday, February 8, 2026 will be the election day,&rdquo; the commission said in a statement. Advance voting will take place on February 1. Ethics violation&nbsp;Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, of the conservative Bhumjaithai party, assumed office in September after his predecessor was removed over an ethics violation. He <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/thai-pm-dissolves-parliament-paving-way-for-national-elections" style="color: rgb(41, 105, 176);">dissolved</a> parliament on Friday, paving the way for the national poll -- which under Thai law must be held between 45 to 60 days after the dissolution. The move comes as a conflict stemming from a decades-long border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia reignited this month, with ongoing military clashes killing at least 31 people and displacing around 800,000. Anutin, a cannabis-championing conservative, took power with coalition backing conditional on dissolving parliament, becoming the kingdom&#39;s third leader in two years.

The election commission said in a statement, ‘Today the Election Commission has drafted election details and proposed to the Commissioner who agreed that Sunday, February 8, 2026 will be the election day.’ 

Thailand to go to the polls on February 8

ISLAMABAD: A packed international calendar in the coming week will see voters decide Chile&rsquo;s future, central banks signal the path of interest rates, courts deliver verdicts in high-profile cases, and world leaders gather for talks amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.&nbsp; Politics and diplomacyVoters in Chile head to the polls on Sunday for the second round of the presidential election, a vote expected to shape the country&rsquo;s political direction amid economic uncertainty and social debate. In Europe, attention turns to Berlin on Monday, where Ukraine&rsquo;s President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to appear, underscoring Germany&rsquo;s continued diplomatic and economic engagement with Kyiv. European leaders will later gather in Brussels for a two-day EU summit, alongside meetings of energy and foreign ministers focused on security, climate, and trade.&nbsp; At the United Nations, the Security Council will hold a series of meetings throughout the week on flashpoints, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Yemen, Syria, Libya, and West Africa, and will also vote on the renewal of several peacekeeping missions. In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin is due to hold his annual press conference on Friday, followed over the weekend by an informal summit of Commonwealth of Independent States leaders in Saint Petersburg. EconomyChina releases key figures on retail sales, industrial output, and unemployment on Monday, offering insight into the health of the world&rsquo;s second-largest economy.&nbsp; The European Commission will review its proposal to end sales of new petrol cars by 2035, while the Bank of England and the European Central Bank announce monetary policy decisions on Thursday. Japan announces foreign trade figures for November on Wednesday, and the Bank of Japan&#39;s monetary policy decision on Friday. In the United States, upcoming data releases on inflation, jobs, retail sales, and consumer confidence, along with Nike&rsquo;s quarterly results, are expected to offer fresh insight into consumer demand heading into the new year. Legal and JusticeSeveral closely watched legal cases are scheduled. Hong Kong&#39;s court issues a verdict for media mogul Jimmy Lai early Monday morning in a press freedom case.&nbsp; Paris courts are handling multiple high-profile cases, including proceedings against former Lafarge executives accused of financing terrorism in Syria, as well as decisions on requests to suspend platforms such as Shein and Kick. In the United States, Ryan Routh faces sentencing on Thursday for the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in September 2024.&nbsp;A doctor received sentencing on Tuesday in Los Angeles over supplying narcotics connected to actor Matthew Perry&#39;s death.&nbsp;Florida executes a man on Thursday who confessed to five 1980s murders.&nbsp;The Justice Department must release documents in the Epstein case by Friday. SportsFootball dominates the week, with the 33rd SEA Games continuing in Bangkok through December 20, while attention turns to Doha for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final before the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Morocco over the weekend. Cricket fans will follow major fixtures in Australia and India, with T20 matches on Wednesday and Friday in Lucknow and Ahmedabad, and Australia hosting England for the third Test in Adelaide starting Wednesday. Alpine skiing takes center stage across multiple European venues with Women&#39;s World Cup events in St. Moritz on Sunday and Val-d&#39;Isere over the weekend.&nbsp; CulturePope Leo is due to lead a special Jubilee Mass for prisoners at St Peter&rsquo;s Basilica in Vatican City on Sunday. Lagos hosts its Street Art Festival 2025 through Monday.&nbsp; One of the first Hermes bags given to Jane Birkin goes up for sale on Monday in Paris. The UK marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen&#39;s birth on Tuesday. Boston sees protests against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. New Delhi holds the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit from Wednesday to Friday, while Tokyo hosts SEMICON JAPAN, a semiconductor expo, also from Wednesday to Friday. Thursday marks International Migrants Day worldwide.&nbsp;Pensioners protest in Athens on Tuesday morning, while a union-led demonstration against European agricultural policy and the EU-Mercosur trade agreement takes place in Brussels on Thursday.&nbsp; In the entertainment world, Disney is set to release the latest Avatar film in Los Angeles on Friday.

Central Asia

United Kingdom

Europe

Elections, court rulings,  and central bank decisions dominate the week ahead, as governments release key economic data, the UN debates global conflicts, and major cultural and sporting events unfold across multiple regions.

World in the week ahead: Global events

NEW YORK: New York&#39;s incoming leftist mayor Zohran Mamdani said Sunday he still believes US President Donald Trump is a fascist, even after the two had a warm meeting at the White House. &quot;That&#39;s something that I&#39;ve said in the past, I say it today,&quot; the mayor-elect said on NBC news. The self-described Democratic Socialist on Friday met the Republican leader, setting aside months of mutual recriminations and promising to cooperate on the city&#39;s future. Trump, who had previously suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should be deported, even came to his rescue as the two addressed reporters at the White House on Friday. When a journalist asked Mamdani if he continued to view Trump as a fascist, the president stepped in. &quot;That&#39;s OK. You can just say it. That&#39;s easier,&quot; Trump told Mamdani. &quot;It&#39;s easier than explaining it. I don&#39;t mind.&quot; In his NBC interview Sunday morning, Mamdani elaborated: &quot;I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment,&quot; he said. He added: &quot;I found in the meeting that I had with the president a productive one and a meeting that came back again and again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran: the cost of housing, cost of child care, the cost of groceries, the cost of utilities.&quot; After threatening to cut federal funding to the United States&#39; biggest city and sending in the National Guard, Trump at the White House praised Mamdani&#39;s historic election win, said he could do a &quot;great job.&quot; &quot;We&#39;re going to be helping him to make everybody&#39;s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York,&quot; Trump said.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 21: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (L) in the Oval Office of the White House on November 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Im

New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reaffirmed calling President Trump a fascist despite a cordial White House meeting, saying they openly discussed disagreements but focused on shared priorities like housing and living costs as Trump pledged cooperation.

New York mayor-elect Mamdani still views Trump as fascist

TOKYO: Japan&#39;s governing party leader, Sanae Takaichi, is on track to become the country&rsquo;s first female prime minister, after finding a badly needed replacement for a crucial partner that left her Liberal Democratic Party&rsquo;s coalition. Takaichi, 64, would replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tuesday&rsquo;s parliamentary vote. If she&#39;s successful, it would end Japan&#39;s three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the coalition&#39;s loss in the July parliamentary election. The moderate centrist Komeito party split from the LDP after a 26-year-long coalition. The move by Komeito came days after Takaichi&rsquo;s election as president of her party, and it forced her into a desperate search for a replacement to secure votes so that she can become prime minister. The Buddhist-backed Komeito left after raising concerns about her ultraconservative politics and the LDP&rsquo;s lax response to slush fund scandals that led to their consecutive election defeats and loss of majority in both houses. While the leaders of the country&#39;s top three opposition parties failed to unite for a change of government, Takaichi went for a quick fix by teaming up with the most conservative of them: The Osaka-based Ishin no Kai, or Japan Innovation Party. But the long-term stability of their cooperation is an unknown. The two parties are set to sign a coalition agreement on Monday. An eventual Takaichi premiership would be on a cliff edge. The fragile new coalition, still a minority, would need cooperation from other opposition groups to pass any legislation. It would be a risk that could lead to an unstable, short-lived leadership. Big diplomatic tests come within days &mdash; talks with US President Donald Trump and regional summits. At home, she needs to quickly tackle rising prices and compile economic boosting measures to address the frustrated public. Unpopular among womenAn admirer of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi&#39;s breaking of the glass ceiling makes history in a country whose gender equality ranks poorly internationally. But many women aren&#39;t celebrating, and some see her impending premiership as a setback. &ldquo;The prospect of a first female prime minister doesn&rsquo;t make me happy,&rdquo; sociologist Chizuko Ueno posted on X. Ueno explained that Takaichi&rsquo;s leadership would elevate Japan&rsquo;s gender equality ranking, but &ldquo;that doesn&rsquo;t mean Japanese politics becomes kinder to women.&rdquo; Takaichi, an ultraconservative star of her male-dominated party, is among those who have stonewalled measures for women&rsquo;s advancement. Takaichi supports the imperial family&rsquo;s male-only succession, opposes same-sex marriage and a revision to the civil law allowing separate last names for married couples, so women don&rsquo;t get pressured into abandoning theirs. The prospect for a dual system for last names is fading under Takaichi, Ueno says. &ldquo;Ms. Takaichi&rsquo;s policies are extremely hawkish and I doubt she would consider policies to recognize diversity,&rdquo; said Chiyako Sato, a political commentator and senior writer for the Mainichi newspaper. Rising prices and population declineIf she&#39;s successful in the parliamentary vote, Takaichi would immediately launch her Cabinet on Tuesday and make a policy speech later in the week. A protege of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is expected to emulate his economic and security policies. With a potentially weak grip on power, it&#39;s unknown how much Takaichi would be able to achieve. She would have only a few days to prepare for diplomatic tests &mdash; major regional summits and talks with Trump in between. She has to reassure that there will be stable ties with China and South Korea, which are concerned about her revisionist views on wartime history and past visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. The shrine honors Japan&rsquo;s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Victims of Japanese aggression, especially China and the Koreas, see visits to the shrine as a lack of remorse about Japan&rsquo;s wartime past. Takaichi supports a stronger military, currently undergoing a five-year buildup with the annual defense budget being doubled to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027. Trump is expected to demand that Japan increase its military spending to NATO targets of 5% of GDP, and purchase more US weapons. Takaichi has to follow up on Japan&rsquo;s pledge of $550 billion to Trump&rsquo;s administration as part of a US tariff deal. Her policies focus on short-term measures such as rising prices, salary increase and subsidies, as well as restrictions against a growing foreign population amid a rise of xenophobia. Takaichi hasn&#39;t shown a vision for Japan to address bigger issues like demographic challenges. Takaichi&rsquo;s dilemmaTakaichi&rsquo;s mission is to regain conservative votes by pushing the party further to the right. The LDP&rsquo;s new coalition with the right-wing JIP may fit Takaichi&#39;s views, but experts say that she would have to avoid pushing them and prioritize stability. She needs to balance relations between China and the United States under Trump, while at home she also needs balance to gain support from the opposition camp to achieve anything. &ldquo;She needs to be realistic,&rdquo; says Sato, the commentator. On Friday, Takaichi sent a religious ornament instead of going to the Yasukuni Shrine, apparently to avoid a diplomatic dispute with Beijing and Seoul. To consolidate opposition cooperation and lift her coalition closer to a majority, she has reached out to smaller opposition groups, including the far-right Sanseito. &ldquo;There is no room for Takaichi to show her true colors. All she can do is cooperate per policy,&rdquo; said Masato Kamikubo, a Ritsumeikan University political science professor. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pathetic situation.&rdquo; A kingmaker&#39;s influenceTakaichi&rsquo;s election as LDP leader as she seeks the premiership is about power politics by the 85-year-old conservative former Prime Minister Taro Aso, the party&rsquo;s most powerful kingmaker. In her first move as LDP president, Takaichi appointed Aso as the party&#39;s vice president and gave more top jobs to his allies and others who supported her, including Abe allies linked to the funds scandal. Takaichi is expected to appoint them to her Cabinet. Political instabilityPolitical observers expect that a Takaichi government wouldn&#39;t last long. An early election may have to be called later this year, in hopes of regaining a majority in the lower house, though that would be tough. Experts also raise concerns about how Takaichi, a fiscal expansionist, can coordinate economic policies with Ishin&#39;s fiscal conservative views. &ldquo;The era of LDP domination is over and we are entering the era of multiparty politics. The question is how to form a coalition,&rdquo; Sato said, noting a similar trend in Europe. &ldquo;We need to find a Japanese way of forming a coalition and a stable government.&rdquo; About a dozen opposition parties span the spectrum from the Japanese Communist Party on the left to Sanseito and several others on the extreme right. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s going on here right now is what&rsquo;s going on in all our democracies for a lot of complicated reasons,&rdquo; said Gerald Curtis, a Columbia University professor and expert on Japanese politics, citing the mainstream political parties losing popularity, and voters acting on the basis of anger and resentment.

Ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi is poised to become Japan's first female prime minister, forming a fragile coalition amid political instability, rising prices, and diplomatic challenges, though her leadership faces deep public and ideological divides.


Articles tagged with "Elections"