One can say that the easy part is over for Sanae Takaichi. Even though there has been some turbulence in the past few weeks, she finally got her wish to become Japan's first ever female prime minister at the third time of asking. Now that she's in the hot seat, the real challenge begins.
So, what are the key things that Takaichi has to address from hereon?
Party politics aside, her more immediate challenges will center around preparing for a supplementary budget to counter rising prices and also reducing the number of seats in Japan's lower house by 10%. The latter is part of the coalition agreement with the Nippon Ishin party. While tough, these are hardly the most difficult of tasks that she has to manage.
In the bigger picture, Takaichi also has to deal with what comes next with the trade deal between the US and Japan. And adding to that, she also has to address the slowing and aging economy. Being a fiscal dove, she wants to push the agenda of tax cuts and increased government spending to bolster the economy. But with Japan's debt levels already being a cause of concern for investors, how is she going to balance all of that out? That not to mention her premiership is coming at a tedious time for the BOJ, who are pushing to raise interest rates.
Her victory today marks a historic moment in Japanese politics. However, it might end up being short-lived if she can't manage to appease the LDP's new ruling coalition partner and also if she fails to find solutions to the party's struggles in recent years. Four prime ministers in the last five years is an indictment that Takaichi will be in for a rough ride as prime minister.
