PM Takaichi Spells out Plans to Advance Bold Policy Shifts in Speech at Diet

By Akihisa Ota / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:41 JST, February 21, 2026

In her policy address on Friday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spelled out her plans to advance bold policy shifts, based on the historic mandate she won in the recent House of Representatives election.

She stressed that she would reshape policy for the economy, diplomacy, security and constitutional revision in her own style, and steadily realize the campaign promises made by the Liberal Democratic Party, which she leads as party president, as well as fulfill the coalition agreement inked with the Japan Innovation Party.

At the beginning of her address, Takaichi said the LDP’s sweeping victory in the election showed that they were “given strong encouragement from the people, who have urged us to follow through on important policy shifts by every means available.”

She indicated she would promote “responsible proactive public finances” based on her mandate and asserted that “We should not hesitate to make necessary fiscal spendings.”

She also called for greater investment in 17 strategic fields, repeating the word “investment” as many as 24 times during her speech, which lasted about 50 minutes.

In the final phase of her address, she focused on constitutional revision. Describing the Constitution as an articulation of “the ideal version of the nation we want to build,” she expressed hope that the Diet would be quick to propose constitutional amendments.

The remark shows a more assertive approach to constitutional revision, in light of her party single-handedly securing a two-thirds majority in the lower house, required for the Diet to propose amendments.

On the other hand, there are lingering concerns in the ruling bloc that if the prime minister steers Diet proceedings very forcefully, such as by passing the fiscal 2026 budget in the current fiscal year, the government could be viewed as “making light of the Diet, which could alienate the public,” according to a veteran LDP member.

In her address, the prime minister only called for “swift deliberation” on the budget in the Diet.

As for bills for cutting the food consumption tax rate to zero for two years, Takaichi considers submitting them to an extraordinary Diet session in autumn. But in her address, she went only so far as to say that she aims to submit the bills early, not specifying any concrete timeline.

As the ruling coalition remains a minority in the upper house, there was a significant amount of heckling from the opposition when she spoke in the upper house.

In her address, Takaichi also indicated she would steer Diet proceedings “by listening to various voices and acting with humility.”

“If there is an indication of arrogance, the administration, which is propped up by Takaichi’s popularity, will lose momentum fast,” a senior government official warned.