"Early general election." In the end, it's self-inflicted...Ishiba's Prime Minister's Office is also in a 'critical condition'

[Anchor]
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party and the ruling coalition failed to secure a majority of seats in yesterday's House of Representatives elections.

Within the Liberal Democratic Party, there are predictions that the move to step down will begin in earnest along with the theory of responsibility for Prime Minister Ishiba, and the Japanese political community is expected to be embroiled in a aftermath.

Connect to Japan to find out more about the news. Correspondent Kim Se-ho!

[Reporter]
Yes. It's Tokyo.

[Anchor]
As a result of the general election in the lower house of Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was defeated, so how do you diagnose the cause?

[Reporter]
Yes. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held an early general election for the shortest period after his term in office, but in the end, the majority of the ruling party collapsed and the opposition party made a leap forward.

Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party secured 191 seats, while the ruling New Komeito Party secured only 24 seats.

In addition to failing to pass the majority alone, it was far below the 233 majority of 465 seats in the Komeito Party.

Two incumbent cabinet members in Ishiba's cabinet and the leader of the Komeito Party were defeated, symbolizing the ruling party's defeat.

It is the first time in 15 years that the Liberal Democratic Party has missed a majority since handing over to the former Democratic Party in 2009.

Above all, distrust caused by the Liberal Democratic Party's slush fund scandal at the end of last year is identified as the biggest cause.

In particular, the fact that party-level subsidies were provided to lawmakers who were involved in slush funds and excluded from the nomination spread public criticism.

In addition, in a situation where the economic difficulties of ordinary people are increasing due to high prices, the back and forth measures such as reversal of interest rate policy do not seem to have given trust.

On the other hand, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the main opposition party, which focused on the Liberal Democratic Party's slush funds in this election campaign, won 148 seats from the previous 98 seats,

The People's Democratic Party also made strides by significantly increasing the number of seats from seven to 28, more than three times the number of seats.

The total number of seats in the opposition party was 250, exceeding the 215 seats in the ruling party of the Liberal Democratic Party and Gongjin.

[Anchor]
It was an election in which the fate of the Ishiba administration was at stake, and there must be a lot of political repercussions after that. What do you think?

[Reporter]
As the Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Ishiba has failed to secure a majority, there is a possibility that the party will not only take responsibility but also move to step down, centered on the opposition.

Prime Minister Ishiba said he was severely judged by the results, but indicated that he had no intention of stepping down.

[Shigeru Ishiba / Japanese Prime Minister: I think that the results have been quite severe so far. From the middle of the election, I thought it would be a very difficult election.

On the other hand, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the main opposition party, which has made great strides, is expected to use this momentum to try to unite the opposition party three times and work on a regime change.

[Noda Yoshihiko / Leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Former Prime Minister: I think regime change is the biggest political reform. If there is an opportunity, other parties will respond seriously based on the election results.]

For Prime Minister Ishiba, the immediate fire will be a special session of the National Assembly, which will be convened next month.

In the special parliament, the existing cabinet resigns altogether and re-elects the prime minister through a parliamentary vote.

Among the candidates for prime minister from each party, the candidate who wins a majority will be confirmed as prime minister, and if neither candidate wins a majority, the top 1 and 2 will have to go through the final round.

Prime Minister Ishiba and the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party Noda are likely to reach the final round, as the Liberal Democratic Party failed to secure a majority,
The fate of the prime minister will be determined by whom opposition lawmakers drive overwhelming votes in the
final vote.

Because of this, the LDP and the Constitutional Democratic Party are expected to continue their intense behind-the-scenes work to win the support of minor opposition parties.

However, some analysts say that although it is possible to replace the prime minister if all the opposition party votes are gathered, it is not easy to realize as the lines between the opposition parties are different.

For this reason, the Constitutional Democratic Party also considers next year's upper house elections rather than trying to change the government immediately,

As we continue dialogue and cooperation with other opposition parties, we are expected to focus first on a long-term plan to regain power.

I'm Kim Se-ho of YTN in Tokyo.