Tag: Japan PM

‘Robust Co-operation in Indo-Pacific’: PM Modi Speaks to Japan’s New PM Fumio Kishida

Japan’s parliament elected Kishida prime minister on earlier in the week.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and discussed the robust cooperation between India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific region.

Japan’s parliament had elected Kishida prime minister on Monday.

In a tweet Modi said, “Spoke with H.E. Fumio Kishida to congratulate him for assuming charge as the Prime Minister of Japan. I look forward to working with him to further strengthen India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership and to enhance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.”


The prime minister conveyed his congratulations and best wishes to Kishida for assuming charge as the premier of Japan, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the rapid progress in the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, and agreed on the potential to further enhance cooperation in a variety of areas, including in high-technology and futuristic sectors, it said.

Prime Minister Modi invited Japanese companies to benefit from India’s economic reforms through greater investment, the PMO said.

The leaders also discussed the increasing alignment of perspectives, and robust cooperation, between India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.

They reviewed the progress of cooperation under the Quad framework in this regard, the statement said.

Prime Minister Modi also invited Kishida to visit India at his earliest convenience for a bilateral summit meeting.

Fumio Kishida Elected Japan’s 100th Prime Minister, Unveils Cabinet Stacked With Abe’s Allies

Kishida, a former foreign minister with an image as a low-key consensus builder, beat out three contenders last week to lead the party and became prime minister as it has a majority in parliament.

Tokyo: Fumio Kishida was officially elected as Japan’s 100th Prime Minister on Monday after winning a majority of votes in both houses of parliament.

Kishida unveiled on Monday a cabinet line-up featuring allies of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, ensuring the influence of the latter’s conservative base.

Of the 20 posts, 13 are filled by people with no prior cabinet experience, in line with Kishida‘s pledge to give chances to new people, but the majority of heavyweight jobs will go to allies of Abe, or outgoing finance minister Taro Aso.

Public broadcaster NHK has said Kishida is set to dissolve the body next week and call an election for October 31.

The surprise move, amid widespread expectations for a poll in November, appears to be aimed at exploiting a traditional honeymoon period accorded to new governments and a sharp drop in the number of coronavirus infections.

Outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga enjoyed support ratings of about 70% soon after taking office about a year ago, but was pummelled by criticism of his handling of the pandemic, leading him to make way for a new face to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) through the election.

Kishida, 64, a former foreign minister with an image as a low-key consensus builder, beat out three contenders last week to lead the party and became Prime Minister as it has a majority in parliament.

He is set to dissolve parliament on October 14 and will announce the election in his first news conference as Prime Minister later on Monday, NHK television said.

The ruling party’s new secretary-general, Akira Amari, told reporters that while he had not heard anything for certain, he believed Kishida would move in that direction.

“Kishida’s not wasting any time at all,” Tobias Harris, a senior fellow of the Center for American Progress, said on Twitter.

Harris added, “October 31 puts the opposition on its heels, takes advantage of a honeymoon in the polls, plus a better chance of lower case numbers. If he wins comfortably in the general election and can hold things together well enough to win the upper house elections next year, he’ll have up to three years without an election.”

Kishida’s poll decision was probably influenced by not wanting to repeat a mistake made by Suga, who did not call an election when his backing was still strong, analysts said.

“I believe he aims to hold the election before the general atmosphere (towards the new cabinet) turns cold,” said Zentaro Kamei, a senior fellow at the PHP Institute.

Also read: How Beijing’s New Maritime Rules in the South China Sea Will Affect India and Others

Abe’s Shadow

One of 13 fresh faces in Kishida‘s cabinet, Yamagiwa, 53, began his career in politics soon after graduating from Tokyo University with a degree in veterinary science. He became a lower house lawmaker in 2003, and briefly served as vice trade minister in Abe’s government.

“He [Kishida] won the election with the support of Abe and Aso, so now it’s time for him to return the favour, it’s not the time for him to cut them off,” said political analyst Atsuo Ito, adding that Kishida tended to rate safety over bold action.

Analysis: Japan 'shadow shogun' Abe assured clout over next PM Kishida | Reuters

Allies of former prime minister Shinzo Abe set to be in prominent positions in Kishida’s cabinet

One of those closest to Abe is Amari, who has promised a big extra budget after the election, told reporters on Monday it would need to include steps to ameliorate social divisions and COVID-19.

“It’s not just Japan, but the divisions in society have increased during the coronavirus pandemic and many people are worried,” Amari said.

Set to replace Aso is his low-profile brother-in-law, Shunichi Suzuki, who is viewed as likely to continue the government’s policy of tempering growth spending with fiscal reform.

Other jobs destined for Abe allies are the trade and industry portfolio, to be held by current education minister Koichi Hagiuda, who is close to Abe.

Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, who is Abe’s brother, will retain his position, as will foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

There are three women in the line-up, one more than Suga had, but none holds a heavyweight portfolio.

(Reuters)

Fumio Kishida Set to Become Japan’s Next PM After Party Vote

A ruling LDP leadership race win virtually ensures Fumio Kishida will be Japan’s next prime minister

Tokyo: Former Japan foreign minister Fumio Kishida won a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race on Wednesday, a victory that virtually ensures he will become Japan’s next prime minister within days.

In an acceptance speech, Kishida vowed to lead a transformed party in a general election due within weeks and continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic which has battered Japan’s economy.

However, Kishida enjoys only moderate public support along with a bland image and his victory could spell problems for the LDP in the election due by November 28.

“The LDP leadership election is over. Let us all face the lower house and the upper house elections as one,” Kishida said. “Our national crisis continues. We need to keeping working hard on the coronavirus response with strong determination, and we need to compile tens of trillions of yen of stimulus package by the end of the year,” he added.

Kishida defeated former defence and foreign minister Taro Kono, seen as an outspoken maverick, in a second round run-off vote. Two female contenders, Sanae Takaichi, 60, and Seiko Noda, 61, dropped out after the first round.

Kishida, who succeeds unpopular Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga who did not seek re-election as party leader after just one year in office, is almost certain to become premier at a parliamentary session on October 4 because of the LDP’s majority in the lower house. He is expected to form a new cabinet and reshuffle the LDP executive in early October.

Local media reported, quoting LDP executives, that the lower chamber will likely be dissolved in mid-October, with the election either on November 7 or November 14.

“A whole month of monopoly over TV and newspaper coverage in the run-up to the election cannot be bad for the LDP but the underwhelming result will dampen the celebratory mood quickly, possibly,” said Koichi Nakano, political science professor, Sophia University.

Kishida’s victory is unlikely to trigger a huge shift in policies as Japan seeks to cope with an assertive China and revive an economy hit by the pandemic, with the soft-spoken MP highlighting the need to focus on reducing income disparity.

He shares a broad consensus on the need to boost Japan’s defences and strengthen security ties with the United States and other partners including the QUAD grouping of Japan, the United States, Australia and India, while preserving vital economic ties with China and holding regular summit meetings.

Specifically, Kishida wants to beef up Japan’s coast guard and backs passing of a resolution condemning China’s treatment of members of the Uyghur minority. He wants to appoint a prime ministerial aide to monitor their human rights situation.

Jeffrey Hornung, senior political scientist at RAND corporation said that the outgoing Suga administration had been publicly active in having conversations on Taiwan. “It will be interesting to see whether the new leader takes this approach, such as advocating for Taiwan’s inclusion in CPTPP.”

Kishida has said fiscal consolidation would be a major pillar of his policy and in the past has voiced doubts over the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose policy, saying in 2018 that stimulus cannot last forever.
But with the economy suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, Kishida recently reversed course to say the BOJ must maintain its massive stimulus. He proposed a spending package of more than 30 trillion yen, adding that Japan likely would not raise a sales tax rate from 10% “for about a decade”.

He has stressed the need to distribute more wealth to households, in contrast to the focus of Abe’s “Abenomics” policies on boosting corporate profits in the hope benefits trickle down to wage-earners.

“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,” Jesper Koll, expert director at Monex Group.

(Reuters)

Japan’s Shinzo Abe Mulling Snap Election as Early as October

Abe’s ratings had sunk below 30% in some surveys in July, battered by suspected cronyism scandals and a perception that he had grown arrogant.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to reporters about North Korea's missile launch in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on August 29, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to reporters about North Korea’s missile launch in Tokyo, Japan in this photo taken by Kyodo on August 29, 2017. Credit: Reuters

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering calling a snap election as early as next month to take advantage of an uptick in approval ratings and disarray in the main opposition party, domestic media reported on Sunday.

Abe’s ratings have recovered to the 50% level in some polls, helped by public jitters over North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests and chaos in the opposition Democratic Party, struggling with single-digit support and defections.

Abe told the head of his Liberal Democratic Party’s junior coalition partner, the Komeito party, that he could not rule out dissolving parliament’s lower house for a snap poll after the legislature convenes for an extra session from September 28, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing unidentified informed sources.

“Until now, it appeared the election would be next autumn, but … we must always be ready for battle,” media quoted Komeito party chief Natsuo Yamaguchi as telling reporters on Saturday during a visit to Russia.

Speculation has mounted over a snap election on October 22, when three by-elections are scheduled, although other possibilities are later in October or after US President Donald Trump makes a likely visit in early November, media said.

Abe’s ratings had sunk below 30% in some surveys in July, battered by suspected cronyism scandals and a perception that he had grown arrogant after more than four years in office.

His popularity rebounded a bit after an early August cabinet reshuffle and has since been helped by worries over a volatile North Korea, which on Friday fired a ballistic missile overJapan, its second such move in less than a month.

“If we have a snap election now, we need to explain it to the public, including how we will cope with the threat from North Korea,” said Koichi Hagiuda, a senior LDP executive, according to NHK.

As Japan faces its first impending major security crisis since World War II, it is vital to secure public understanding, he said.

No general election need be held until late 2018, and calling a snap poll could spark criticism that he was creating a political vacuum amid rising regional security tensions.

But an early vote would not only take advantage of Democratic Party disarray but also dilute a challenge from an embryonic party that allies of popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, an ex-LDP lawmaker, are trying to form.

Abe’s coalition would likely lose its two-thirds “super” majority” in the lower house, but keep a simple majority, political sources have said.

Loss of the two-thirds grip would dim prospects Abe can achieve his controversial goal of revising Japan‘s pacifist constitution to clarify the military’s role. Any constitutional amendment requires approval by two-thirds of both chambers and a majority in a public referendum.

That risk could make Abe hesitate.

“I am skeptical about the consensus that Abe will call a snap election because doing so poses a risk, albeit small, to his agenda of constitutional revision,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan.

(Reuters)