Japanese PM re-elected after run-off vote

TOKYO, Nov 11 (BBC): Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has won a run-off vote in parliament to stay in his post, after an election setback last month that saw his coalition lose its majority in the lower house.

Ishiba, 67, took over as prime minister from Fumio Kishida, who stepped down in September amid a series of scandals that rattled public trust in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) party.

In an extraordinary parliament session on Monday, Ishiba defeated Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the main opposition party Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Ishiba will now have to navigate hostilities within his party, economic woes and a period of flux in international relations.

As the leader of a minority government, he also faces the challenge of having to heed to demands from the opposition bloc for any future bills or budget to pass - with fears of potential political gridlock in a hung parliament.

A former defence minister, Ishiba gained a reputation in Japanese politics for being openly critical of figures in his party, including Kishida and Japan's longest-serving leader Shinzo Abe. That reputation scored him points among voters, even as it ruffled feathers within his own party.

Ishiba was named the leader of Japan's ruling LDP - and consequently the country's prime minister - on 1 October, following a tight race among LDP candidates.

Days after taking office, he called a snap election for the parliament's lower house in an attempt to consolidate his mandate. The election gamble failed, however, as the LDP lost its parliamentary majority in its worst result in over a decade.

"The Japanese people expressed their strong desire for the LDP to do some reflection and become a party that acts in line with the people's will," Ishiba told national broadcaster NHK after that election.

Ishiba's cabinet will mostly remain the same, but the members who have lost their seats in the election will be replaced.