Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vowed on Monday to stay in office after the ruling party suffered its worst parliament election result in 15 years, saying he would not allow a "political vacuum."

"I want to fulfill my duty by protecting people's lives, protecting Japan," Ishiba told a press conference on Monday. He said the biggest election factor was "people's suspicion, mistrust and anger" over a scandal, which saw the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) figures pocket money from fund-raising events and which helped sink his predecessor Fumio Kishida.

The 67-year-old said the LDP has received "an extremely harsh verdict" from the people and vowed to enact fundamental reform regarding the issue of money and politics.

Ishiba also expressed his intention to continue maintaining the coalition government formed by the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito. They were projected to fall short of Ishiba's stated goal of winning at least 233 seats -- a majority in the 456-member lower house. 

(With input from AFP)