TOKYO (AP) – Former Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida won the ruling party’s leadership election on Wednesday and will become the next prime minister to take on the task of revitalizing a pandemic-stricken economy and ensuring a strong alliance with Washington to help the growing regional growth counteract security risks.
Kishida replaces the outgoing party leader Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down after only one year in office.
As the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida will certainly be elected as the next prime minister in parliament on Monday, where his party and its coalition partner control both houses.
In his victory speech, Kishida promised to address “national crises” such as COVID-19, the pandemic-ridden economy, and population and birth declines. He said he would address “important issues related to Japan’s future” through a vision of a “free” and open Indo-Pacific “that counteracts China’s assertiveness in the region.
Kishida defeated popular vaccination minister Taro Kono in a runoff election after having only one vote ahead of him in the first ballot, in which none of the four candidates, including two women, won a majority.
In a landslide 257-170 second-round victory, Kishida received support from party heavyweights who apparently preferred stability to change advocated by Kono, known as something of a loner and reformist.
Kishida is under pressure to change the party’s high-handed reputation worsened by Suga, who angered the public over his handling of the pandemic and insisted on holding the Tokyo Summer Olympics despite rising infections.
The long-ruling Conservative Liberal Democratic Party urgently needs to reverse its public support within two months ahead of the general election.
Kishida said he had complained to many voters over the past year that they were being ignored. “I felt that our democracy was in crisis,” he said in his speech. “I, Fumio Kishida, have a special ability to listen to people. I am determined to work with you to make every effort to create a more open LDP and a bright future for Japan. “
The 64-year-old ex-foreign minister was once considered indecisive and moderate. Recently, however, he has become a security and diplomatic hawk as he sought the support of influential conservatives to win the party election.
Calling for a further increase in Japan’s defense capabilities and budget, Kishida vowed to oppose China amid tensions over self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, and Beijing’s crackdown on dissenting opinions in Hong Kong.
In terms of the economy, Kishida has called for a “new capitalism” of growth and distribution to narrow the income gap between rich and poor, which has widened under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, and worsened during the pandemic.
He also pledged to promote clean energy technologies to turn climate action into growth opportunities and proposed a generous stimulus package.
“I will start a positive growth and distribution cycle” to increase people’s incomes, not just for the benefit of large corporations, “said Kishida at his first press conference as LDP president. He promised to defend democracy, peace and stability and to raise the international profile of the country.
Overall, under the new leader, hardly any changes in key diplomatic and security policy are expected, said Yu Uchiyama, professor of political science at the University of Tokyo.
Kishida supports close security ties between Japan and the US and partnerships with other like-minded democracies in Asia and Europe, in part to counter China and North Korea, which is armed with nuclear weapons.
Wednesday’s vote was seen as a test of whether the party could step out of the shadow of Abe, a staunch Conservative. His influence in government and party affairs has largely muzzled different views and turned the party to the right. Political observers say Kishida’s victory points to a continuation of LDP power politics under the leadership of Abe and his influential allies.
“The results showed that the LDP cannot and cannot change,” said Yukio Edano, chairman of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. “As the new LDP president, Mr. Kishida should explain how his leadership differs from the Abe Suga governments.”
Kishida called for party reforms by limiting terms in office, but is seen as an option that could prolong an era of unusual political stability amid fears that Japan could return to “revolving door” leadership.
“Concern is not about individuals, but about the stability of Japanese politics,” said Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, on a phone call prior to the vote.
Green said voters were paying attention to whether Kishida was influenced by power politics within his party or whether she was publicly attuned.
Suga leaves just a year after taking office as a pub thug for Abe, who suddenly resigned due to health problems and ended his nearly eight-year term, the longest in Japanese constitutional history.
Kishida lost in the 2020 party leadership race to Suga, which was determined by party heavyweights before the vote. As a third generation politician from Hiroshima, Kishida has a reputation among his MPs for being polite and honest.
In 1993 he was elected to parliament for the first time. As an advocate of nuclear disarmament, he accompanied former US President Barack Obama in 2016 on his visit to Hiroshima, the city that was destroyed together with Nagasaki in the US atomic bombs in the last days of World War II.
As Abe’s foreign minister in 2015, he reached an agreement with South Korea to resolve a dispute over women sexually abused by the Japanese military during World War II, part of a legacy that still hinders relations between the two countries.
The legislature banker loves sake and is a staunch supporter of his hometown professional baseball team, the Hiroshima Carp.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/29/ex-diplomat-kishida-wins-japan-party-vote-to-become-new-pm-national-world-news/
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