Two of the candidates vying to become Japan’s next prime minister yesterday denied that they had toned down their positions on nuclear energy and gender issues to attract conservative backing in a tight ruling party leadership election this month.
The winner of the Sept. 29 contest to lead the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is almost certain to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga because the party has a majority in the lower house.
Surveys of voters show Japanese Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform Taro Kono, who is in charge of overseeing the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination program, is their top choice.
Photo: AP / Bloomberg
Long seen as a critic of nuclear power, Kono said he had not flip-flopped on the issue.
“What I’ve been saying about an exit from nuclear power is decommissioning quickly nuclear power plants that are reaching retirement and gradually exiting nuclear energy,” he said in a televised debate.
“As I explained before, we should stop the use of coal, increase energy conservation and renewable energy and nuclear power can be used to fill the gap,” he added.
Former Japanese minister of foreign affairs Fumio Kishida, a more traditional LDP consensus-builder, was asked whether he had back-pedaled over allowing married couples to have separate surnames.
Asked about the impression that he had earlier favored the change, Kishida said he recognized diversity, but that questions remained as to how to treat children’s names under a new system.
During a broad debate, Kono called for dialogue with China amid growing concerns about its maritime assertiveness — a stance echoed by Kishida.
Japan-China “summit meetings should be held regularly,” Kono said. “Perhaps, we should tell the Chinese leadership to exert their power as one of players in the international order, not in the way of expansionism.”
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