TOKYO - Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the trusty right-hand man of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since December 2012, won comfortably in a ruling party leadership election on Monday (Sept 14).
This means he will be the next prime minister after Mr Abe, Japan's longest-serving leader, quit abruptly last month because of a flare-up of ulcerative colitis, a stress-induced chronic digestive ailment.
Mr Suga said in his victory speech that he will continue the policies of his predecessor, while pushing reforms in areas such as inefficiencies in the bureaucracy.
“A political vacuum cannot be tolerated in a national crisis like Covid-19,” he said. “It is my mission to steadily overcome the crisis while advancing the efforts of Mr Abe’s.”
“I want to create a government that people can trust. I will push ahead with deregulation and put an end to ministry sectionalism, endemic vested interests and the practice of blindly following past precedents,” he said.
To achieve that, he has previously vowed to enlist reform-minded people and subject experts, instead of following closely the party’s tradition of allocating Cabinet posts to factions.
Mr Abe, on his part, said in brief remarks after the outcome that it was “indisputable” that Mr Suga was the best person to take Japan forward.
He said, to raucuous applause: “For the last seven years and eight months, I have been watching Mr Suga silently sweat and toil for the country.”
The Diet, as Japan's Parliament is known, will convene on Wednesday for a three-day extraordinary session to inaugurate the new leader. Mr Suga is expected to name the top brass in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Tuesday, and his new Cabinet on Wednesday.
The son of strawberry farmers from north-east Akita prefecture, Mr Suga has enjoyed a surge in public support in recent weeks. He has presented himself as the best continuity candidate for political stability, stressing his experience of having been heavily involved in policymaking and bureaucratic matters since he was named chief cabinet secretary in December 2012, when Mr Abe took office.
While his resume on diplomatic issues is much thinner, the eight-term LDP lawmaker in Kanagawa prefecture, who got his start in national politics at the age of 47, has vowed to continue the diplomatic legacy of his predecessor, including advancing the security alliance with the United States.
Mr Suga, 71, inherits an economy in recession, as well as other pressing issues such as an ageing population and a low birth rate, exemplified by the fact that his own home town, Yuzawa city in Akita prefecture, is hollowing out. He will also have to confront geopolitical challenges, including rising tensions between the US and China.
Two senior LDP politicians - Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and Defence Minister Taro Kono - have said in recent days that they expect the Diet to be dissolved for a snap election as soon as next month.
An election is not due until October next year, but the LDP is riding on a surge of support and Mr Suga, no doubt, will be keen to cement his leadership with a public mandate.
On Sunday, Mr Suga dodged a question on whether a snap poll is in the offing, only saying: "What the people want the most is to keep a balance between preventing further Covid-19 infections and promoting economic activities."
Mr Suga won 377 votes, or 70.5 per cent of the 534 valid ballots cast in the contest on Monday, including 288 lawmaker votes and 89 prefecture delegate votes.
A total of 535 votes was at stake, comprising 394 LDP lawmakers with one vote each, and 141 delegate votes from the 47 local prefecture chapters with three votes each.
Coming in second was former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, 63, with 89 votes comprising 79 lawmaker votes and 10 from prefecture delegates.
In last place was former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, 63, who got 68 votes from 26 lawmakers and 42 votes from prefecture delegates.
While the LDP President has a term of three years, Mr Suga will only serve out the rest of Mr Abe’s tenure, which was to expire in September 2021, after which another party leadership vote will have to be called.
The Japanese business community lauded the result.
Suntory Holdings chief executive officer Tak Niinami said that he anticipated a smooth takeover and progression of Abe-era policies, but also called on the new government to focus on advancing digital measures and raising productivity.
He added: “With unemployment bound to rise, the government should pursue mid to long-term economic growth through policies that let the private sector take the lead in improving productivity, rather than policies centred around the government.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYXNpYS9iaWctd2luLWZvci15b3NoaWhpZGUtc3VnYS1pbi1sZHAtZWxlY3Rpb24td2lsbC1iZS1mb3JtYWxseS1uYW1lZC1qYXBhbnMtbmV4dC1wcmltZS1taW5pc3RlctIBAA?oc=5
2020-09-14 07:55:46Z
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