New Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Shigeru Ishiba said he would call a national election on Oct. 27, assuming he is confirmed as Japan’s new prime minister today, taking advantage of a positive public reaction to his victory in Friday’s LDP leadership election.
“It is important that the new government be judged by the people as soon as possible,” Ishiba said in brief remarks to the press yesterday.
Ishiba is set to name party veterans to senior posts in his Cabinet as he broadly pursues continuity in economic, monetary and foreign policy. The new administration is officially launch after today’s vote in the LDP-dominated parliament.
Photo: AP / Kyodo News
The role of finance minister is set to go to Katsunobu Kato, a former top government spokesman, while Ishiba is to name Takeshi Iwaya, a former defense minister, as his foreign minister, public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reported.
Ishiba’s decision to call a quick election is a move to win a mandate for his administration while there is an uptick in voter support. A survey by the Mainichi Shimbun found that 52 percent of the public were optimistic about the new government.
The surprise victory by Ishiba in the LDP leadership battle reflects a bid by the party to win back public trust after a fund-raising scandal and inflation woes sent the approval ratings of outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plummeting.
Ishiba has consistently been one of the most popular leadership candidates among the public. His distance from previous administrations gives him a cleaner image to project in an election.
The ruling LDP is unlikely to be ousted in any near-term national vote, given the relatively low support ratings of other parties. The main opposition party has just replaced its leader to try and revive its flagging support levels.
Tokyo stocks yesterday closed down more than 3 percent as investors factored in the sharp rebound in the yen that followed Ishiba’s surprise win over Bank of Japan (BOJ) easing advocate Sanae Takaichi.
A Takaichi victory was seen as likely to slow down or put the brakes on interest rate hikes by the central bank, putting pressure on the currency to weaken.
During his leadership campaign, the 67-year-old Ishiba expressed support for the BOJ’s policy normalization.
In a television interview on Sunday he said it was important to keep monetary conditions accommodative, suggesting there was no rush to raise borrowing costs.
“I don’t think we should be talking about interest rates in a situation where we still can’t say for sure that deflation has been defeated,” Ishiba said during an interview with Fuji TV.
Ishiba has said his economic priorities are to defeat deflation and raise wages, while encouraging revitalization of Japan’s rural regions.
The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing. In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a
‘NO AMNESTY’: Tens of thousands of people joined the rally against a bill that would slash the former president’s prison term; President Lula has said he would veto the bill Tens of thousands of Brazilians on Sunday demonstrated against a bill that advanced in Congress this week that would reduce the time former president Jair Bolsonaro spends behind bars following his sentence of more than 27 years for attempting a coup. Protests took place in the capital, Brasilia, and in other major cities across the nation, including Sao Paulo, Florianopolis, Salvador and Recife. On Copacabana’s boardwalk in Rio de Janeiro, crowds composed of left-wing voters chanted “No amnesty” and “Out with Hugo Motta,” a reference to the speaker of the lower house, which approved the bill on Wednesday last week. It is
‘EAST SHIELD’: State-run Belma said it would produce up to 6 million mines to lay along Poland’s 800km eastern border, and sell excess to nations bordering Russia and Belarus Poland has decided to start producing anti-personnel mines for the first time since the Cold War, and plans to deploy them along its eastern border and might export them to Ukraine, the deputy defense minister said. Joining a broader regional shift that has seen almost all European countries bordering Russia, with the exception of Norway, announce plans to quit the global treaty banning such weapons, Poland wants to use anti-personnel mines to beef up its borders with Belarus and Russia. “We are interested in large quantities as soon as possible,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Pawel Zalewski said. The mines would be part
Cozy knits, sparkly bobbles and Santa hats were all the canine rage on Sunday, as hundreds of sausage dogs and their owners converged on central London for an annual parade and get-together. The dachshunds’ gathering in London’s Hyde Park came after a previous “Sausage Walk” planned for Halloween had to be postponed, because it had become so popular organizers needed to apply for an events licence. “It was going to be too much fun so they canceled it,” laughed Nicky Bailey, the owner of three sausage dogs: Una and her two 19-week-old puppies Ember and Finnegan, wearing matching red coats and silver
RSS