Pension reform talks deliver policy and political wins for Ishiba

key takeaways

• The ruling coalition and the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) agreed to a revised pension reform bill, avoiding a legislative setback for the Ishiba government.
• Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru not only secured a compromise including provisions that he had originally preferred, but the compromise with the CDP also increases friction among opposition parties, reducing the likelihood of a no-confidence motion and complicating their efforts to coordinate their upper house campaigns.