Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday dissolved the lower house of parliament, paving the way for elections on Oct. 31 that would be the country’s first of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At stake will be how Japan faces a potential COVID-19 resurgence and revives its battered economy, and if or how Kishida’s government can leave the shadow of nine years of rule under former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga.
Kishida said he is seeking a mandate for his policies after being elected prime minister by parliament only 10 days ago.
Photo: Reuters
He replaced Suga, who lasted just a year as prime minister and whose support was battered by his perceived high-handed approach in dealing with COVID-19 and insistence on holding the Tokyo Olympics, despite rising virus cases.
Kishida, tasked with rallying support for the ruling party, has promised to pursue politics of “trust and empathy.”
Four main opposition parties have agreed to cooperate on some policies, such as addressing gaps between the rich and the poor, which they say widened during Abe’s government and were worsened by the pandemic.
After Japanese House of Representatives Speaker Tadamori Oshima announced the dissolution, the 465 lawmakers in the more powerful lower chamber stood up, shouted “banzai” three times and left. Official campaigning for all 465 newly vacant seats begins on Tuesday.
The previous House of Representatives election was in 2017 under Abe, a staunch conservative who pulled the long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) further to the right during his stint as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
In that vote, the LDP and its coalition partner New Komeito together won 310 seats, or two-thirds of the chamber.
Opposition parties have struggled to win enough votes to form a new government after the brief rule of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2012. With weaker LDP support under Suga, the party lost three parliamentary by-elections and a local vote this year to opposition contenders.
Yukio Edano, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, told Japan Broadcasting Corp that he hopes to make the election “a first step toward changing the politics.”
In his first policy speech last week, Kishida promised to improve the country’s pandemic response, revive the economy, and bolster defenses against threats from China and North Korea.
He also sought to gradually expand social and economic activities by using vaccination certificates and more testing.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, said Kishida was selfish for dissolving the lower house so early in his tenure.
“It is unclear on what policies he is seeking a mandate from the voters,” Tamaki said.
He said his party would propose an economic policy that seeks higher pay for workers.
“We want to create a political situation where ruling and opposition blocs are in close competition,” Tamaki said.
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
As China waged extensive military exercises off Taiwan, a group of US defense experts in Washington was focused on their own simulation of an eventual — but for now entirely hypothetical — US-China war over the nation. The unofficial what-if game is being conducted on the fifth floor of an office building not far from the White House, and it posits a US military response to a Chinese invasion in 2026. Even though the participants bring a US perspective, they are finding that a US-Taiwan victory, if there is one, could come at a huge cost. “The results are showing that under
DRILLS CONTINUE: China’s creation of a restricted zone across the median line of the Taiwan Strait challenges a 70-year-old fact, a ministry of defense official said The nation’s military fully complies with international rules and guidelines when responding to Chinese military drills, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, vowing to continue defending Taiwan in accordance with international law. China on Thursday launched four days of military drills around Taiwan proper in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. The drills were expected to end on Sunday, but neither Beijing nor Taipei confirmed their conclusion, although the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it had seen some evidence suggesting at least a partial drawdown. However, China yesterday said the drills would continue, saying “the
A senior Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman has prompted a storm of ridicule online, after a late-night post in which she used restaurant listings to assert Beijing’s claim over Taiwan. “Baidu Maps show that there are 38 Shandong dumpling restaurants and 67 Shanxi noodle restaurants in Taipei,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) posted on Twitter late on Sunday. “Palates don’t cheat. #Taiwan has always been a part of China. The long lost child will eventually return home,” she added. Hua’s post came at the end of a week of tensions around the Taiwan Strait, during which Beijing raged at a
RSS