In Japan, Fumio Kishida becomes leader of the right-wing conservative party, and de facto future prime minister – archyde

The name of the future Japanese prime minister is now known. Fumio Kishida was chosen Wednesday, September 29 to lead the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, conservative right), in power in Japan. He is thus assured of becoming the next chief executive. A vote in parliament is due to take place on October 4.

Kishida, a 64-year-old former foreign minister, obtained 257 votes in the second round of an internal vote in the PLD, against 170 votes for his rival, Taro Kono, 58, the “Mr. Vaccination” of the outgoing government and one of the archipelago’s most famous political figures.

Kishida’s promises

Fumio Kishida was elected from Hiroshima (western Japan) to the lower house of parliament since 1993 – like his father and grandfather before him, before becoming foreign minister from 2012 to 2017.

He came to power on his second attempt: he had failed a year ago against the current leader Yoshihide Suga, who has given up standing because of his unpopularity. “I was not good enough”, said Mr. Kishida recently about his previous campaign for the presidency of the LDP. “It’s different this time around. I have the firm conviction that I am the right leader now ”, he added, trying to erase her smooth, dull image.

“The simple fact that he has to prove [qu’il a changé] is already a not very encouraging sign ”, according to Brad Glosserman, an expert on Japanese politics and professor at Tama University in Tokyo. But the dominant forces within the PLD felt that Mr. Kishida was “A safer bet in terms of stability” than its main rival, Taro Kono, more popular with grassroots members and the general public, but perceived as “Less malleable” by party barons, Mr. Glosserman added.

During his campaign, Fumio Kishida, a former banker, pledged a new fiscal stimulus package to accelerate recovery from the shock of the pandemic and showed his willingness to reduce social inequalities. “People want a policy of generosity”, said Mr. Kishida, saying he has a great listening capacity. However, he spared the goat and the cabbage by saying he was also concerned about ensuring the consolidation of public finances, while Japan’s debt peaked at 256% of national GDP in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Internationally, he will have to face the threats posed by North Korea and China. However, Mr. Kishida’s program did not foresee any radical change in Japan’s foreign, economic or military policy. A fervent activist for nuclear disarmament in the world, he notably contributed to Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016, the first of a United States president in office in this city destroyed by the atomic bomb, in 1945. This does not does not prevent him from being in favor of the revival of civilian nuclear power in Japan, the use of which has been very limited since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. In addition to the restarting of old reactors, he pleads for the introduction of small reactors modular.

On social issues, he appears more cautious than Mr. Kono. Unlike his rival, Mr. Kishida thus said that he had no “Not reached the point of accepting same-sex marriage”, which is not allowed in Japan. He was also lukewarm on the sensitive issue of granting the right to spouses not to take the same last name, simply contenting himself with calling for a debate on the subject. During his previous campaign for the presidency of the PLD, a year ago, what was to be a communication operation had turned into disaster: obviously eager to pass for a Japanese “Ordinary”, he had posted on Twitter a photo with his wife wearing a kitchen apron and coming to serve him his meal.