The campaign to become Japan’s next prime minister began yesterday, with four candidates vying for leadership of the ruling party in an unusually close race.
In televised speeches, the candidates set out their priorities, from boosting Japan’s digital prowess to addressing the falling birthrate.
Among them are two women hoping to lead a nation that has never had a female prime minister, although both are considered long shots.
Photo: AFP
The race follows Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s shock announcement that he would not run for head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Whoever the party picks in a Sept. 29 vote is to contest a general election that has to be held by late November.
As the LDP is expected to retain power, its leader is likely to be the person leading the world’s third-largest economy in the coming years, and would face challenges from dealing with China to tackling climate change.
“We find ourselves in a time of climate crisis... We must exert maximum effort, by making renewable energy a priority,” said Japanese Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform Taro Kono, who is in charge of overseeing the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination program and leads public opinion polls on the nation’s next leader.
“It is not a pipe dream to power this country with 100 percent renewable energy,” Kono said.
His main competition is expected to come from former Japanese minister of foreign affairs Fumio Kishida, who heads a large LDP faction that is to back him in the race.
Two of the few women at the top of Japanese politics — divisive right-winger Sanae Takaichi and former Japanese minister for gender equality Seiko Noda — are also standing.
The race is hard to predict because factions that often vote as blocs are this time largely leaving members to vote as they choose.
“Given that the factions aren’t endorsing anyone officially, it’s kind of a free-for-all,” said Tobias Harris, senior fellow for Asia at the Center for American Progress. “It’s hard to say that there’s really a true front-runner.”
Kishida yesterday said that he wanted to see wages rise and move away from neo-liberal policies, while Takaichi — a self-declared fan of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher — emphasized the importance of strong defense.
Noda said she would aim for women to make up half of her Cabinet if elected and pledged to improve the lives of the socially disadvantaged.
“I am a mother. I have a family member who has disabilities,” Noda said. “I want to fight this campaign by using my knowledge about diversity as a weapon.”
The voting on Sept. 29 is to be over two rounds, if needed, with 383 lawmakers and an equal number of rank-and-file LDP members voting in the first instance, but the close race makes it unlikely a candidate would secure a majority. In that case, the top two move to a second round involving 383 lawmakers and one party representative from each of Japan’s 47 regions.
“Insiders are ultimately going to make or break the winner,” Harris said, adding that Kono’s popular support means that he “probably has the edge, but if he has a lead, it’s a very vulnerable one.”
Suga, whose approval ratings have tanked partly over his government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, announced his resignation this month after just a year in the top job.
His term has been marred by worsening waves of COVID-19 infections and repeated rounds of restrictions, with the Tokyo Olympics failing to boost his popularity.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia