Vote for Fumio Kishida underscores LDP’s dominance in Japan’s politics
defying expectations, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) stormed for an outright majority in the country’s parliamentary elections on Sunday. The first major test for the election was New Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, who took over last month amid huge challenges. They followed the short-lived tenure of Yoshihide Suga., who replaced Shinzo Abe. Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Mr Abe, stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons. Mr Suga’s year-long tenure was marred by his government’s poor handling of COVID-19 and the economic crisis. Facing the lowest approval rating of any Japanese leader in years, he resigned. Entering the election under these circumstances, the LDP, which had held 276 seats in the 465-seat House of Representatives prior to the election, was set for a poor performance, with widespread expectations that it would have to hold on to its alliance with the Komito Party. will need to be trusted. Cross the halfway mark. But it was free from the ideas of coalition and headed for victory.
Mr. Kishida now faces several pressing challenges on the pandemic, economy and security front, including relations with China. He has committed to supporting hospitals to ensure a better response to Japan in the face of another wave. On the economy front, he has put forward a “new capitalism” aimed at an economic revival, keeping the interests of the middle class as a priority. He has promised to come up with an ambitious stimulus package this month. On foreign policy, he has to heed the wishes of his party’s conservative bloc which is demanding a significant increase in defense spending. They are voices he cannot ignore given that the new leader – Mr. Kishida was also a foreign minister – has no real popular support to invoke and will follow what his party wants. In the election campaign, the LDP said it would double defense spending to 2% of GDP. China’s recent air incursion into Taiwan was cited as a major reason, as well as North Korea’s missile tests. Mr Kishida has said he will focus on strengthening ties with Washington, and in its early days, has already reached out to the leaders of the Quad. He has also spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping with positive noise to bring the relations back on track. Ultimately the affairs of the house will decide which of his two predecessors Mr. Kishida emulates. Given the flagged reputation of the LDP at the end of Mr Abe’s tenure and during Mr Suga’s turbulent times, the vote appears to be as much support for stability as it is for his government. It also reaffirms the LDP’s undisputed position in domestic politics, no matter how much trouble it has faced in recent years, underlining that there is no serious challenge to its continued dominance.
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