Party of Japan’s Premier Wins Record Legislative Victory

Ap

La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, February 9, 2026, p. 20

Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s party secured more than two-thirds of the majority in yesterday’s parliamentary elections, local media reported, citing preliminary results.

In a televised interview with public broadcaster NHK, Takaichi expressed that after the resounding victory she is now ready to pursue her policies, including an anti-migrant agenda.

Referring to the scrutiny, NHK reported that Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) alone secured 316 seats, comfortably surpassing an absolute majority of 261 deputies in the 465-member lower house, the most powerful in Japan’s bicameral Parliament. This marks a record since the party’s founding in 1955 and surpasses the previous record of 300 places won in 1986 by the late Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone (1918-2019).

An honor to support her: US president

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, was the first foreign leader to congratulate her. “Your party now governs the legislature with a historic two-thirds majority, the first time since World War II. Sanae: It was an honor for me to support you and your coalition. I wish you much success in approving your conservative agenda of peace through force. The wonderful Japanese people, who voted with such enthusiasm, will always have my firm support,” said the Republican on his social networks, who last week urged the inhabitants of the Asian nation to vote for the prime minister’s political organization.

A smiling Takaichi, an admirer of the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), placed a large red ribbon over each winner’s name on a board at LDP headquarters, as party executives applauded.

Despite not being a majority in the other Chamber, the upper chamber, the great jump from participation prior to the elections for deputies will allow Takaichi to advance a right-wing agenda, which seeks to promote Japan’s economy and military capabilities while tensions with China increase and she tries to cultivate ties with the United States.

Takaichi assured that he would firmly advance his political goals while trying to gain support from the opposition.

“I will be flexible,” he said.

Takaichi is hugely popular, but the LDP, which has ruled Japan for virtually the past seven decades, has faced funding and religious scandals in recent years. He called these early elections just three months after taking office, hoping to change that situation while his popularity remains high.

The ultra-conservative Takaichi, who took office in October as Japan’s first female ruler, promised to “work, work, work,” and her style, seen as equal parts casual and tough, has resonated with younger followers who say they were not previously interested in politics.

With the formation of a new centrist alliance and a rise of the far right, the opposition is considered too fragmented to pose a real challenge. The new opposition alliance of the LDP’s former coalition partner, the Buddhist- and pacifist-backed Komeito, and the liberal-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is projected to halve its combined pre-election share of 167 seats.

Takaichi wants to increase defense spending amid pressure from Trump for Japan to relax its budget restrictions.