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Japan’s ruling party elects Kishida as Suga successor
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Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party anointed former foreign minister Fumio Kishida as its new leader yesterday, a victory for the party elite that virtually ensures the soft-spoken consensus-builder will become prime minister.
Although he enjoys only moderate popular support and is saddled with a bland image, Kishida drew critical backing from some party heavyweights, allowing him to stop the momentum of outspoken rising star Taro Kono, the minister in charge of the coronavirus vaccine rollout.
The Hiroshima lawmaker succeeds unpopular Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who did not seek reelection as party leader after just one year in office. Kishida is almost certain to become premier at a parliamentary session on Monday because of the LDP’s majority in the lower house.
It was not clear if Kishida’s tepid profile might spell problems for the LDP in a general election due by November 28. He focused on populist issues — such as the need to forge a new kind of capitalism and ease divisions of wealth — in his first news conference.
“We can’t achieve strong growth if wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small group of people,” he said, citing a need to create a “virtuous cycle” of growth and wealth distribution.
“We will strive to achieve economic growth and distribution,” of wealth, Kishida added, promising housing and education aid to address income disparity.
He has proposed a spending package of more than 30 trillion yen (US$270 billion), and yesterday he said that stimulus must be compiled by the year-end.
Kishida is expected to form a new cabinet and reshuffle the LDP executive in early October.
Parliament’s lower chamber will probably be dissolved in mid-October with an election on either November 7 or 14, Japanese media said, quoting LDP executives.
“A win for the establishment. Kishida stands for stability, for not rocking the boat and most importantly, doing what elite technocrats tell him to do,” said Jesper Koll, expert director at Monex Group.
Kishida’s rival Kono, a fluent English speaker with a large following on Twitter and reputation for being forthright and headstrong, has been seen as something of a maverick and therefore not the top choice of some LDP powerbrokers.
Kono set himself apart from the mainstream of the party establishment on social issues by supporting legislation that would recognize gay marriage, something Kishida has not backed.
Two female contenders, Sanae Takaichi, 60, and Seiko Noda, 61, dropped out of the leadership race after the first round.
Kishida shares a broad consensus on the need to boost Japan’s defenses and strengthen security ties with the United States and other partners while preserving trade ties with China.
In response to a query on Kishida’s win, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China is willing to work with Japan’s new ruling team to observe the principles set out in the four political documents between China and Japan, deepen mutually beneficial and practical cooperation, and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral ties along the right track.
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