Explained: Who is Japan’s next Prime Minister Fumio Kishida?

Japan’s former secretary of state Fumio Kishida is about to exchange Yoshihide Suga as prime minister after he won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote on Wednesday. While Kishida is well-respected within the party, enjoying the support of several heavyweights, the 64-year-old isn’t widely popular.

On Monday, Kishida will succeed Prime Minister Suga, who announced he won’t be running for re-election after his approval ratings plummeted to an rock bottom , within his first year in office. Filling Suga’s shoes are going to be no easy feat, as Kishida are going to be inheriting a stagnant economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic, the remnants of an unprecedented public health crisis, and increased political manoeuvring by China.

Our national crisis continues. we’d like to stay working hard on the coronavirus response with strong determination, and that we got to compile tens of trillions of yen of stimulus package by the top of the year,” Kishida said in his acceptance speech. His first big goal as Japan’s new premier are going to be to steer the LDP to victory within the upcoming election .
After a special parliamentary session set to require place on October 4, Kishida are going to be confirmed because the 100th Prime Minister of Japan. Kishida comes from a family of an extended line of politicians. Despite an unsuccessful run office in 2020, when he lost against Suga, Kishida was the primary candidate to throw his hat within the ring to contest this year.

He first entered the political sphere in 1993, following within the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He served as policy chief of the LDP and later as secretary of state between 2012-17, during which he was liable for negotiating deals with Russia and South Korea . He has long been in support of banning nuclear weapons, calling it “his life’s work”, and helped bring former US President Barack Obama to Hiroshima on a historic visit in 2016.
Widely known to be a moderate-liberal politician, he’s expected to steer the otherwise conservative LDP slightly left. While he enjoys the support of top party leaders, his low-key presence over the years has led to critics pertaining to him as “bland” and lacking charisma.

During the LDP’s leadership vote, he defeated high-profile candidate Taro Kono, the favored and outspoken minister responsible of the country’s coronavirus vaccine rollout.

A major pillar of his proposed policies once elected is narrowing the income gap. He has also proposed an ambitious 30 trillion yen spending package to assist economic recovery.

“Fiscal reform is that the direction we’d like to go for eventually, though we won’t attempt to fill Japan’s deficit with immediate tax hikes,” he said on Saturday, stressing on the necessity to distribute wealth amongst Japanese households, Reuters reported. this is often in sharp contrast with the policy of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also referred to as Abeonomics, which focused on boosting corporate profits.

In terms of policy , no drastic changes are predicted within the near future. he’s likely to follow through with the policy approach adopted by Suga and his predecessor Abe. this is able to mean reaffirming Japan’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and solidifying ties with fellow members of the Quad grouping, which incorporates India. The Quad’s focus are going to be on countering China’s manoeuvring within the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region.

“In order to guard such universal values as freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights, we’d like to mention firmly what must be said within the face of the expansion of authoritarian regimes like China, while cooperating with countries that share such values,” he said this month, consistent with Reuters.

During a session of parliament on Monday, subsequent prime minister are going to be elected. The victor of the election are going to be the candidate who wins majority of votes both within the upper and lower houses of parliament.

In case both chambers elect different candidates and are unable to reach a consensus, then the lower house’s decision are going to be final. Since the LDP enjoys a majority within the lower chamber, Kishida is virtually assured of being named the victor.

The new leader is predicted to make a replacement cabinet. But Kishida’s first big test will happen next month, when the term of the lower home is set to finish , sources told Reuters.

Prime Ministers can involve an election if the lower home is dissolved. But the snap elections must happen within 40 days of the dissolution of the lower house. during which case, a election will happen either on November 7 or November 14, Reuters reported.